Scotland’s education secretary and deputy first minister, John Swinney, has survived a motion of no confidence.

A vote and debate took place this afternoon after Scottish Labour called for him to be removed following his role in the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) results controversy, which it said was the latest in a series of failures.

The parliamentary motion was defeated by 67 votes to 58, with Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats in favour, while SNP and Green members were against.

Background: Labour to table motion of no confidence in Swinney

U-turn: All downgraded results to be withdrawn

Q&A: How the SQA defended the results fiasco

Sturgeon on SQA results: ‘We did not get this right’

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard, speaking to the motion, said it was not fuelled by “retribution” but amounted to a “time of reckoning for a long line of failures”. He pointed to issues such as the change of policy in getting schools back full-time following the coronavirus lockdown, a narrowing of subject choices in secondary schools, the refusal to scrap P1 testing, and failings in the education of children with additional support needs (ASN).

SQA results: John Swinney ‘simply has to go’

Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said that, while Mr Swinney had been a “diligent, capable deputy” to first minister Nicola Sturgeon, in education his “failings [were] so great” that “he simply has to go”.

Tory education spokesman Jamie Greene said Mr Swinney and Ms Sturgeon must feel “awkward” defending their position when they had called for the removal of the education secretary at the time of the 2000 SQA exam results fiasco, Sam Galbraith.

Labour education spokesman Iain Gray said a key difference was that, in 2000, the SQA made a “huge mistake” but this year it had done exactly what Mr Swinney had asked.

Mr Gray added: “We cannot have an education secretary who is good at apology but bad at policy.”

The first minister described Mr Swinney as “one of the most decent and dedicated people in Scottish politics” and “probably the most honourable individual I have known in my life”.

Ms Sturgeon apologised again for making wrong decisions over SQA results, and said that “when [Mr Swinney] gets something wrong he has the humility to say so...and that is a strength”.

She added that “we own our mistakes”, and said Labour and the Tories were politically driven and “this [motion] is not about principle”.

The Scottish Greens’ education spokesman, Ross Greer, said his party opposed the motion. The Greens had highlighted for months that the qualifications system was “fundamentally broken”, but Mr Greer said that Mr Swinney’s U-turn on Tuesday - meeting each of the Greens’ demands over SQA results - ensured that it would oppose the no-confidence motion.

Mr Greer said that the Tories had “brass neck” for calling for Mr Swinney’s removal but not that of Westminster education secretary Gavin Williamson, given events in England today.

The SNP’s Michael Russell, who was education secretary from 2009 to 2014, said Mr Swinney had acted “swiftly”, apologised and taken “full responsibility” over the SQA results this month.

The Labour motion read: “That the Parliament has no confidence in the cabinet secretary for education and skills, in light of his mismanagement of schools’ education and, in particular, of this year’s awarding of grades to school pupils and the unfairness of the system applied by the SQA.”