Sturgeon’s best chance to change No voters’ minds
Boris Johnson is not a man known for his sound judgment.
With that said, his insistence last week that he would never agree to a one-on-one debate with Nicola Sturgeon represented a rare moment of clarity.
The reason is not, as he claims, because she can’t become prime minister – but rather that she would wipe the floor with him and he knows it.
It is telling that even semi-professional online troll Piers Morgan, who probably disagrees with nearly everything the First Minister has ever said, accepts that she is “the most natural leader in British politics”.
Whether or not you agree with Sturgeon’s position on independence, the gulf between her and her rivals on the BBC’s Question Time special was almost embarrassing.
It is likely that leadership is going to translate into a handsome General Election victory for the SNP that could see them winning close to, or even more than, the astonishing 56 seats delivered in 2015.
If that were to happen, combined with the Nationalists and independence-supporting Scottish Greens winning more than 50 per cent of the vote, it would represent a cast-iron mandate for IndyRef2.
The decisions that Sturgeon makes from here on in will determine whether the third act of her political career ends with the delivery of her ultimate dream.
There is still, however, a mountain to climb to achieve independence. Sturgeon would not just have to win the right to hold a vote but also win the vote itself.
To do that, she would do well to remember the principles she set out on becoming First Minister in 2014, when she was insistent that her mission was to speak to No voters.
Too often in this election, Sturgeon can be found addressing mass rallies of her own adoring fans rather than changing the minds of those who do not yet share her vision.
The argument that Westminster is a busted f lush incapable of delivering for Scotland has never been easier to make.
We have barely had a functioning government since June 2016 and are led by a PM you wouldn’t trust to buy a loaf campaigning on the single issue of leaving the world’s most successful trading bloc.
There won’t be a better chance for the SNP to make its case. The party must do so by reaching out, not preaching to the converted.