As you read this, the direction of travel for Scotland has been set. Ballot counting following yesterday’s Scottish Parliament elections will start at 9am, and by the time you are eating your tea this evening we will know how the cards have fallen. We may even know who will form the next government, either because the number of seats won by the SNP is so large to make that inevitable, or indeed because the Scottish Labour party or perhaps even Reform are at the epicentre of a political earthquake.

Notwithstanding the outcome, and call me cynical, but there is a world in which today’s result does not matter much. Whoever enters Bute House will face a set of circumstances which should compel and propel them towards a particular course of action which they will have to take in order to keep this country ticking.

I have never been - and refuse to be - of the view that Scotland is finished and our greatness is irrecoverable. However it is clear to me that we are in a deep malaise as a country and that the First Minister from next week onwards has an unenviable task on his shoulders as he attempts to reverse it.

The current incumbent, John Swinney, should receive a substantial degree of credit. This government, today, is significantly different from the one which he inherited less than two years ago. With his Deputy Kate Forbes, he leads a government which understands the importance of the private sector, and understands that public spending can only be supported if the economy grows.

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