Fossil fuel giants, influential PR firms and the short-term lets industry are among the top lobbyists of the Scottish Government since John Swinney became first minister, The Ferret can reveal.

Energy company SSE, oil major BP, and the Association of Scotland's Self-Caterers were the three business groups who met Swinney's ministers or their advisers most, while the National Farmers Union of Scotland was the most active lobbyist overall.

Message Matters, run by former Tory spin doctor, Andy Maciver and ex-Conservative MP, Peter Duncan, was the public relations firm that had the most time with Swinney's government on behalf of a range of clients.

In the first nine months of Swinney's premiership, 44 per cent of lobbying was by companies and business groups - higher than any other sector, including charities, campaign groups and trade unions combined (38 per cent).

As part of our month-long series, Who Runs Scotland, The Ferret analysed hundreds of records from the Holyrood lobbying register via Transparency International UK's Open Access tool.

Experts said Scotland needed more "public policy expertise and far less spin." Loopholes should be closed to bring lobbying "out of the shadows," campaigners argued.

Deputy first minister and economy secretary, Kate Forbes, was the most accessible minister for lobbyists. She chalked up over 100 meetings between May 2024 and February 2025 - 80 per cent of which were with business interests.

Lobbying is a normal and legal part of the political process, which allows different stakeholders and interest groups to meet with lawmakers and attempt to influence the direction of policy.

But while it often goes under the radar, lobbying can have a big impact on policy decisions. Scotland's deposit return scheme - for example - was shelved after a major lobbying effort by opponents including the whisky industry.

Campaigners with lobbying experience, including a former spin doctor, claimed the process favours businesses while "marginalised" communities are largely shut out. They alleged that Scotland's democracy could be "undermined" by lobbying from big business, and called for all meetings to be minuted and made public.

The Scottish Government said the public would expect it to "meet with a wide range of groups on a variety of subjects".

What did top lobbyists ask for?

Energy giants

The energy industry - including both renewable and fossil fuel companies - accounted for 11 per cent of lobbying activity under Swinney, more than any other business sector.

SSE, based in Perth and one of Scotland's biggest companies, met ministers 13 times.

In one meeting with Swinney, the multinational lobbied for changes to Scotland's planning system to "unlock more flexible" energy generation, including that equipped with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.

The government is considering a controversial bid from the firm to build a new CCS-equipped gas power station at Peterhead in Aberdeenshire. SSE argues the site would produce mostly clean power but environmental campaigners fear approving it could be incompatible with climate targets and keep Scotland "locked into volatile gas markets".

In other meetings, the company promoted its renewables projects and frequently asked that the planning process for green energy projects be sped up.

An SSE spokesperson told The Ferret that it regularly engaged with "politicians from all parties, community groups and others about our work".

They added: "That engagement is carried out ethically and transparently and it's no secret that to unlock this investment we want to ensure Scotland's planning system keeps pace with the rest of the UK."

BP representatives met with ministers 10 times since Swinney came to office, including multiple meetings with the first minister, his deputy Forbes, and acting energy minister, Gillian Martin.

The company lobbied ministers via its exhibition stand at the SNP conference last year. It also met Forbes and public finance minister, Ivan M...