There was much to digest in a major poll by The Herald of Scottish business leaders, and it looked as if it would be far easier for the SNP to find positives in it than Labour.

That is not to say the poll, conducted with the Institute of Directors in Scotland, painted an entirely rosy picture for the Scottish Government.

However, the net balance of respondents seeing an improvement in the performance of the Scottish Government on business and the economy since the change of leadership in May last year looked like a win for the SNP.

John Swinney succeeded Humza Yousaf as First Minister last May. Mr Swinney appointed Kate Forbes as Deputy First Minister.

And nations director for the IoD in Scotland Catherine McWilliam, when asked for her thoughts on the survey findings, flagged Ms Forbes’ appointment as a positive from the perspective of business.

The relationship between business and the Scottish Government has undoubtedly been far from harmonious in recent years.

The coronavirus pandemic, while not accounting for all of the strain in this relationship, appeared to make things a lot more difficult on this front, with the hospitality sector particularly vocal about lockdown restrictions and what it perceived to be inadequate support.

At times, a negative narrative about the Scottish Government’s record on business and the economy has appeared to have a momentum of its own, quite detached from the facts.

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And many people might be surprised to learn for example, given this often politically fuelled narrative, that the economy in Scotland outperformed that UK-wide last year with 1.1% growth versus 0.9% expansion.

So what did the poll show on Scottish business leaders’ assessment of the performances of the Holyrood and Westminster........

© Herald Scotland