Surprising foretaste of result on June 8?

For once, in recent times, the polls were largely accurate but the shocks in the local election were no less seismic for that. The make-up of Scotland’s town halls shifted dramatically as the Conservative surge was felt across the country, and in some startling places.

Cowdenbeath, until recently the home of the last elected Communist councillor in Britain, now shows a patch of blue as Labour lost Fife.

Voters in some of the country’s most deprived communities such as Shettleston in Glasgow and Paisley’s Ferguslie Park have returned Tory council members at the expense, mainly, of Labour.

The SNP has also suffered and its loss of Perth and Kinross Council will prompt an inquest, not least because the Conservatives are aggressively targeting the Westminster seat of Pete Wishart in the general election.

South of the border, Labour’s perfomance was catastrophic and Ukip were wiped out. Again, the Tories were the beneficiaries of their flawed campaigns.

If these local government elections are any indicator of what will happen on June 8, there is an ill wind blowing for opponents of the UK Government.

There is still, barely, time for a change of tack. Labour could jettison the worst policies of its beset leader and the SNP could reel in its talk of a second independence poll.

Otherwise, Theresa May will coast to victory.