SNP face biggest challenge to grip on power for 17 years
◆ Scottish politics is going to make for fascinating viewing as the SNP tries to avoid a Holyrood election, says Christine Jardine
You could almost hear that iconic Eastenders drumroll as the First Minister walked from his press conference in comically soap opera fashion. His address skirted around the edges of elegance as he described the portraits of the leaders who had trodden the same path as him, almost suggesting he was on the way out.
Instead he presented a poor defence of the Snp-led government’s record as he ended the Bute House Agreement with the Greens. When quizzed by journalists, he continuously equated decision-making with good leadership. An incredibly awkward joke about never being dumped before created a lesson in how not to hold a press conference.
It’s hard to shake the feeling that all of this has been coming since the day he took over. Nicola Sturgeon was always going to be a tough act to follow, and in the end she didn’t exactly leave the audience eager for more of the same. But it’s hard to excuse the chaos he has presided over by saying maybe he was pushed into the spotlight too soon. That he didn’t have the gigs under his belt to know how to handle a fickle audience.
This was no newcomer to the government stage, but a man who had been minister for external affairs and International development, transport, justice, and health and social care. Jack of all trades, master of none, perhaps other than his party’s decline.
Those of us who watched the SNP’S enviable rise expected that, when one of its most notable operators, the respected former communications director, Kevin Pringle, was recalled to the fray, we would witness something of a recovery from the current malaise. That while the First Minister might not have his predecessor’s command of the chamber, he had been astute enough to recognise who he needed alongside him to succeed.
But sadly for Mr Yousaf, it seems not even that political captain could steer his ship away from the rocks. Perhaps Mr Pringle and others on the SNP’S bridge who are now looking to plot a new course for their party suspect their job may be easier if someone else is holding the tiller.
Be that as it may, in all the excitement of no confidence motions, potential deals, and leadership ambitions, we forget about the state of the country at our peril. At First Minister’s Questions last week, Mr Yousaf issued a weak, but loud, defence of his government’s record, aggressively and in a tone not befitting the dignity of his office.
If one no confidence vote wasn’t enough, the parliament potentially now could have two. One of them in this now solely SNP government and one in Mr Yousaf himself. There is still a long way to go before that could mean a parliamentary election, but in the weeks ahead they will face the biggest challenge to their grip on power for 17 years.
It will make fascinating viewing. The cliff-hanger will be whether the undoubted power behind the throne can pull something out of his infamously clever political brain to salvage a future for his party, whoever might lead it. Who knows when the final episode of the SNP government drama will air, but I don’t think we will have to wait too long.