Back to Scotland, where the SNP remains in a state of disarray. After hapless Humza Yousaf rather badly mishandled the ditching of the Greens from government, he was forced to announce his resignation when he realised he would lose a confidence vote in his leadership. And now, after a period of 72 hours in which almost all of Yousaf’s cabinet ruled themselves out of the running, one candidate has finally put themselves up for the top job: John Swinney.

Deputy first minister under Nicola Sturgeon and onetime SNP leader himself while the party was in opposition, Swinney is quite the veteran Nat. A close confidant of Sturgeon, the current backbencher is the establishment choice. The leadership contender is backed by the majority of Yousaf’s cabinet — including health and education secretaries Neil Gray and Jenny Gilruth, both of whom were thought to be potential runners themselves. Swinney also has the support of SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, and Flynn’s successor Ian Blackford. How curious. Mr S remembers the last time the SNP blob rallied around their chosen man and it, um, didn’t end quite as well as they’d hoped…

Now all eyes are on Forbes, former finance secretary and Highland MSP, who made headlines in last year’s leadership race

With a campaign slogan of ‘uniting for independence’, Swinney opined to an Edinburgh press conference that he had the ‘experience and the skills’ to ‘command the trust’ of Scottish people across the country, adding: ‘I am no caretaker. I am no interim leader.’

Addressing the rather large elephant in the room, he admitted to his supporters that ‘my party is not as cohesive as it needs to be’. That’s putting it mildly. And in that spirit of unity, Swinney added that, despite the sparring between their backers in recent days, ‘I want Kate Forbes to play a significant part in that team. If elected, I will make sure that Kate is able to make that contribution.’ How interesting…

Now all eyes are on Forbes, former finance secretary and Highland MSP, who made headlines in last year’s leadership race for blasting Yousaf’s record in government and proclaiming that ‘continuity won’t cut it’. Mr S hears that Swinney’s lot have been speaking with Forbes since Monday, in the hope a backroom deal will be done to avoid another gruelling contest. Forbes for her part is thought to be interested in a joint post of deputy first minister and finance secretary — while Mr S’s sources inform him that Shona Robison, who currently holds those roles, was nowhere to be seen at Swinney’s press conference…

But it’s not quite cut and dry — the Highland MSP is making an announcement of her own this afternoon, after telling journalists on Tuesday that she has a ‘groundswell’ of support among the members and is ‘weighing up’ her decision. Certainly she’s not without backers herself, from veteran MSPs including Fergus Ewing, his sister Annabelle and Forbes’s former campaign manager Ivan McKee MSP as well as MPs like Joanna Cherry and Carol Monaghan who are calling for a party reset.

The ball is in Forbes’s court. Will the SNP have the chance to vote for a fresh start — or will the establishment get their way with just a little more Johntinuity? Stay tuned…