EUAN MCCOLM'S SKETCH: It's time to look to the future, said Swinney… but not ... trends now
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Cometh the hour, cometh the man. But before all that, Alex Cole-Hamilton.
Alphabetical order dictated that the Scottish Lib Dem leader was the first of four candidates to replace Humza Yousaf as First Minister to address a special meeting of the Scottish parliament yesterday afternoon.
Mr Cole-Hamilton, a man who carries an entirely unjustified air of self-satisfaction, didn’t expect to win the contest but, anyway, hadn’t everyone noticed how well the Lib Dems were doing in England and weren’t their Scottish poll ratings just splendid?
Democracy meant Mr Cole-Hamilton was given a full five minutes to indulge his fantasy of a Scottish Liberal Democrat rebirth before Tory leader Douglas Ross was invited to make his pitch.
New start: John Swinney with his wife Elizabeth Quigley at Bute House
Mr Ross – whose motion of no confidence pushed Mr Yousaf to resign – began by pointing out that it appeared the leader of the largest minority party at Holyrood was about to be made First Minister by the smallest party.
John Swinney began to laugh. These were the words he’d spoken in 2003 when, as leader of the SNP opposition, he made his first pitch to become First Minister.
Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon seemed generally unamused, frequently looking at the ceiling as Mr Ross tore into the SNP’s record under her leadership.
Really. The audacity of people who refuse to bow before the Nicola.
Scottish Labour’s Anas Sarwar connected hammer with nail head.
The selection of Mr Swinney as the next leader of his party was nothing to do with what was best for Scotland
