Another one bites the dust. But not just any other one; Kate Forbes. The announcement this week by Scotland’s Deputy First Minister and Economy Secretary that she will leave the Scottish Parliament, and with it the Scottish Government, has shocked Scottish politics.

She now tops the list of very able politicians in their prime who, over the last couple of terms of Parliament, have decided, for one reason or another, that this life is not for them. The list includes former party leaders such as Wendy Alexander, Ruth Davidson, Tavish Scott and Kezia Dugdale, well-regarded Ministers such as Mairi Gougeon, Aileen Campbell and Marco Biagi and outstanding MSPs such as Adam Tomkins, Donald Cameron, Jenny Marra and Gail Ross.

Shock and surprise do not always go hand in hand, however. Through my professional interactions with Ms Forbes I have come to know her fairly well, and her announcement was not a surprise to me, at least. Indeed, I would go as far as to say it was entirely in character for someone who was increasingly finding that her working life and her non-working life were incompatible.

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The end of the Forbes era (or, at least, the first Forbes era), should serve as a warning to us in a number of different ways. There is an obvious one which has been well covered this week, including in these pages of The Herald - a high proportion of those who choose to leave are relatively young women, and mothers. Ms Forbes cited........

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