First Minister John Swinney is facing mounting pressure to endorse new North Sea oil and gas drilling after two senior SNP figures publicly backed the Jackdaw and Rosebank developments. Aberdeen Central MSP Jack Middleton, a former special adviser to Swinney, and Aberdeen North MP Kirsty Blackman, the party's chief whip in the Commons, both declared their support, exposing a split within the SNP as the Scottish Government continues to withhold a formal position ahead of a looming licensing decision.

The interventions come weeks after the SNP's defeat in the Aberdeen South by-election, which the Conservatives framed as a referendum on oil and gas. Scottish Conservative energy spokesman Liam Kerr accused Swinney of clinging to a "reckless" anti-drilling stance and claimed Middleton was shifting position out of political desperation. The SNP, which under Nicola Sturgeon held a "presumption against" new drilling, has since moved away from that policy but has yet to confirm where it now stands.