Hope springs eternal

...in John Swinney's breast. To paraphrase Alexander Pope, Swinney's gift from God comes in the shape of Kate Forbes who agreed not to stand against him in his bid to become SNP leader and by doing so, saved the Party from what could have been a rather fractious leadership election. Forbes got her reward by becoming Deputy First Minister and cabinet secretary for the economy and Gaelic. A rather eclectic mix I think, and not just the cabinet posts. Across the border a right wing Tory, Natalie Elphicke, defected to Labour and seems to have been welcomed with open arms by Sir Keir and the Party. As Harold Wilson is reputed to have said, "A week is a long time in politics".

But I don't think it has ever been as weird as this.