A FEW weeks ago I was at First Minister’s Questions with a trade union deputation. I have to say it was a pretty poor session. The atmosphere in the chamber was flat and beyond lacklustre.

I said to colleagues afterwards that Nicola Sturgeon’s body language, oratory and general demeanour were one of someone whose time had passed. She was unconvincingly going through the motions. Whilst I expected her to stand down sometime over the next 18 months her sudden resignation caught many, including me, by surprise.

In politics, governments and political leaders normally stand or fall on their record of delivery. In healthy democracies parties and leaders who make endless bad decisions, show appalling levels of incompetence, repeatedly waste public money and fail to take responsibility for their actions are usually run out of office — and deservedly so.