By Robert Leslie.

I felt they were not on top of the issue. In reality, that story could have appeared any week of the past two years.

The whole RTS project has been a massive shambles. It has left Orkney households paying more for their electricity, confused by tariffs and with meters that often don’t work.

It is just one example of how broken the UK’s energy system is, and one of many reasons why we should have all the powers over energy here in Scotland.

However, important though that issue is, the real reason for mentioning that edition of the Shetland Times is that below that story was the headline ‘John Swinney succeeds Yousaf as new first minister of Scotland’.

As well as quoting our First Minister as saying it was an ‘extraordinary privilege’ and an ‘honour’ to take on the role, the story quoted me as saying ‘it can only be a good thing’ having John Swinney in Bute House considering the experience he has in public office.

I continued: ’He is a highly respected and well-liked person who has a wealth of experience in the party.

‘He has already shown how he can draw us together in these turbulent times. I have absolute faith in him and look forward to campaigning with him as our leader.’

I must point out though, that when I did dash up to Shetland by ferry to meet up with John for the first weekend of that General Election campaign his plane couldn’t land at Sumburgh due to fog.

The best laid plans and all that.

But John is here now, and this is his second visit to Orkney as First Minister when he has given his time to support the party locally, and we are very grateful for that.

Of course, John was here just the other week, to pay his respects to our former MP and MSP Jim Wallace.

If a funeral service can ever be described as uplifting, this one was. It was full of positivity and humour, as well as the obvious emotions of a farewell from family, friends and colleagues.

Reverend Marjory McLean spoke of the grace that Jim had displayed during his life.

A politician of grace, she said, would lead with generosity, not judgement, would want to be useful, not great, would admit to errors of judgment, and would try to find kinder ways to include people, not find more efficient ways to exclude them.

It chimed with me, as ‘grace’ was a word that had been given to me in an ice-breaker activity at a recent workshop.

At that time – as I do – I went away and looked up the meaning of the phrase ‘Moving with grace through adversity’, which I had heard somewhere in the past.

I found that this was ‘the ability to maintain composure, dignity and kindness while navigating intense pressure, fear, or difficult circumstances’.

If that doesn’t describe exactly what we need to do while campaigning in a world that appears to be in turbo-charged turbulence, I don’t know what does.

I also recognised the values that Jim took from a line in one of the funeral hymns, the Battle Hymn of the Republic:

‘as he died to make us holy, let us live to make all free’.

His brother Neil told us that Jim used these as his guiding principles in life and politics – his desire to set folk:

• Free from ignorance.
• Free from poverty
• Free from prejudice
• Free from injustice

So that all might have the opportunity to fulfil their potential.

We sang that line with particular gusto at the close of the service.

I know that it’s a Sunday and we’re in a church hall where I used to help run the 1st Kirkwall Company Boys’ Brigade, and I don’t want to get too preachy.

But who here could argue with any of that?

I certainly can’t and that is why we have representatives of organisations close to our family along here today.

As I took these lines in, I recalled my graduation from the Open University in 2012.

All of us graduating in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall were encouraged to carry with us the values of Kindness, Humility, Positivity and Creativity.

Anybody that knows me will tell me that I’ve probably dropped the ball on one or two of these.

But I do try.

And I am getting to the point.

What I am saying is that, in the three previous election campaigns I have run as a candidate, I have done my very best to maintain these values.

I have done my very best to make the case for how to help folk across Orkney – and Shetland when relevant – achieve their full potential.

If politics isn’t about improving lives, what is it about?

As we head towards Thursday 7th May, I want everyone involved in this campaign to have these values in their minds.

We will, of course, make the strong case for a vote for the SNP in the constituency and on the list.

We will, of course, point out what the LibDems will never do for Orkney in terms of their anti-democratic stance on our right to decide our own future.

And remind folk of their ConDem coalition legacy of austerity that means we have a food bank in Kirkwall.

We will, of course, point out the charade of Reform UK – led by millionaires, funded by millionaires and with a UK cabinet in waiting that is crammed with wealthy public school graduates and not short on Tories that we’ve frankly seen more than enough of.

These are the friends of corporations, not the common people. They are divisive, will destroy our NHS, and further undermine devolution.

We will point out the dangers of all their empty soundbites.

But we will do all this positively.

If they go low, we go high.

That is the campaign I want to run and if you like the sound of it please come along with me. We have votes to win.

We need more folk as we head to polling day. At times like these I particularly miss that absolute stalwart for independence, Emily Velzian, who we lost in 2024.

Emily’s passion for independence shone through. She was ever-present at stalls and shows and leaves a huge gap.

I was thinking about Emily when I signed up for the SNP’s new initiative, also in the memory of a stalwart of the independence movement, Lead the Change – the Christina McKelvie Women in Politics scheme.

Its aim is to support women to step forward with confidence in our party and in public life.

We need to break down the barriers that stop women getting involved and that can start now. 

Speak to me after of you are interested. I might not have the answers, but I will help where I can.

Enough from me. Time is tight.

Please put your hands together for our party leader, the First Minister of Scotland – in whom I still have absolute faith – John Swinney.

This speech was given by Robert Leslie on the visit of the First Minister of Scotland, John Swinney to Orkney, 22 February 2026. Elections to the Scottish Parliament take place on Thursday 7 May. Robert Leslie is the SNP candidate for the Orkney Constituency.