The SNP can "realign" under John Swinney's leadership so it is ready to take on Labour at the next Holyrood election, Stephen Flynn has insisted as his party gather for its annual conference.

Mr Flynn, the SNP's Westminster leader, is one of just nine SNP MPs who were returned to the Commons after this summer's general election - with the party dropping from the 48 seats it won in 2019.

He was speaking as the three day conference in Edinburgh got underway with a two and a half hour session held behind closed doors session examining for reasons for the July 4 defeat.

Mr Swinney is chairing the discussion, currently ongoing, which is not open to the media.  It is his first conference as party leader in his second period in the role, with some figures questioning whether he has the skills to put his party back on the front foot since its devastating loss.

Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland, Mr Flynn said there were three main reasons for his party's defeat - "breakdown in trust" between voters and the party; a desire by voters to remove the Conservatives from power and a "crisp clear message" from Labour offering change.

With the SNP the subject of an ongoing police investigation into its finances, he also said some issues "have engulfed the SNP in recent times, which undoubtedly put the public off" voting for it.

Mr Flynn said the conference is a "good opportunity for the party to come together and have a pretty open and a robust and frank discussion about what happened".

Speaking about the election result, he noted a "breakdown in trust" which had "quite clearly been eroded over a period of time".

He added: "I think that has happened because of the priorities we have had, but also because of our delivery, but also some of the actions which have engulfed the SNP in recent times, which undoubtedly put the public off."

He complained that at a time of a cost-of-living crisis, the public had seen the Scottish Government spending time "arguing with the UK Government" over "bottle banks" for the scrapped deposit return scheme.

"That for them isn't going to align with what they see as a priority for them at that moment in time," Mr Flynn said.

"Where we must end up is talking again about the public's priorities and refocussing again on that narrative of change."

He also stressed the need to hold Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his new Labour Government to account.

Mr Flynn said: "What they are now promising is not change, in fact they are saying things are going to get worse, even worse than what they are at the moment."

He likened that to the situation under the Tories when David Cameron was prime minister and George Osborne his chancellor.

Mr Flynn added: "We now have a Labour Government that are putting in place austerity, we've got to make difficult decisions, but while we are doing that we are going to focus on the public's priorities and hopefully make sure the public services they rely on are protected."

He claimed Labour ministers are "trying to have their cake and eat it", adding: "Whilst doing so they're not being honest with the public about the scale of the challenges and who has ownership of some of the responsibility for that."

Speaking about the financial pressures facing the SNP Government at Holyrood, he made plain: "The seriousness of the situation we face is stark. We know that public finances in Scotland are stretched, potentially like never before in devolution.

"And we know that worse is coming down the road, because that is what the Labour Government has said to us."

However he insisted the First Minister and his Cabinet "could not be more experienced in terms of dealing with the challenges that is going to be facing the Scottish public sector and the wider Scottish economy over the coming year".

He continued: "They are precisely the people you want in those roles because they have that knowledge, that experience and that wisdom of how to make sure that public services are delivering the way the public expect them to be delivered.

"Within that envelope there is nobody better placed than John Swinney. He has been a man of service in Scottish public life for so long now that he knows what is possible, what isn't possible, but most importantly how to deliver upon it.

"I've got absolute confidence that under John's leadership, in the course of the next 18 months we can realign ourselves into a position where we are able to take on the Labour Party, where we can stand against the austerity agenda which this Labour Government is putting in place and protect the public services the public want and value so much."