It would be churlish to open with anything other than warm congratulations to John Swinney, returned as First Minister with a victory earned in his own right. And I am, I hope, far from a churlish person. But is this an unalloyed triumph for the SNP? Far from it. Is it a significant advance for the cause of independence? Same answer. If anything, the relatively limited momentum behind that cause evinced during the election has abated somewhat.

Still, to the victors the spoils. John Swinney is in a much, much better position than his counterparts, the leaders of the Scottish Conservatives and Labour. He may be gazing upon, as he put it himself, a “mixed pattern” in Scottish politics as it affects the SNP. Their vote fell across Scotland, with exceptions such as Glasgow Central. But Mr Swinney surveys that mingled view from the elegantly curtained windows of Bute House. A decided comfort.

Let us look firstly at those rivals. Starting with Labour. As the results rolled in across Great Britain, with misery heaped upon disappointment, sundry Labour figures spoke openly or anonymously of their discontent with the Prime Minister. Go, it seems, he must. Up with this they would not put. They were adamant it was “curtains for Keir”. Snag is few could name a possible, single successor.

And Sir Keir? He was “not going to walk away”. He was determined to fight – a determination seemingly enhanced by each successive defeat, chiefly in Wales and in English local authorities. But Anas Sarwar, of course, had pre-empted all such talk. He didn’t waste time waiting for the results. He disowned the PM at the outset of the campaign. Why? His calculation was that he needed to prevent this........

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