And so farewell then Lord Barnett, the Labour peer who has died at the age of 91. Who would have imagined he would be outlived by the much-maligned formula for calculating Scottish public spending that bears his name? He had been calling for it to be scrapped almost since he introduced it in 1978.

And Alistair Darling of Better Together has ridden off into the sunset, looking for a post-political career perhaps in Europe and in financial services. He did, after all, save the banking system in 2008 and saved the Union in 2014 - though somehow it does not feel like it.

With these big name departures and Alex Salmond's resignation, there is a definite air of generational change in Scottish politics. But will Scottish Labour make the change into the post referendum world? That is what the leadership campaign should be all about.

The favourite, Jim Murphy, yesterday landed 27 nominations from senior figures, such as shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander.

This was amusing because it followed reports Mr Murphy has refused to work with Mr Alexander ever again and has told him to stop meddling in Scottish affairs.

This seems a little harsh since Mr Alexander has, unlike Jim Murphy, taken

a very close interest in devolution and Scottish home rule over the years. He also seems to understand where Scottish voters are coming from on the national question.

The frontrunner for deputy Scottish leader, Kezia Dugdale, is wisely keeping well out

of this playground fight. She landed 29 nominations yesterday in her bid to be Mr Murphy's deputy. But she must be wondering what life will be like under her headstrong and confrontational boss, assuming he wins.

Yesterday, the Unite union made its view clear when it published a poll of members indicating 78 per cent thought the Scottish leader should be an MSP, like her, not an MP in Westminster, like him. Maybe she went for the wrong job. Maybe she could end up carrying more authority in Holyrood than the leader stuck in London.

She will certainly have to possess an almost telepathic ability to know what he wants her to say at First Minister's Questions, especially about all those something-for-nothing universal benefits that Labour now opposes, such as free higher education. Nasty Nationalists will say: Scotland's Labour leaders have always got their instructions from London, so what has changed?

But we are getting ahead of ourselves here. There are two other able candidates for leader besides Jim Murphy: Neil Findlay, Labour's health spokesman, who has the support of many trades unions, and the enduring, green-fingered Sarah Boyack, who pointed out she was in Donald Dewar's first Cabinet as environment minister back in 1999. She was responsible for free bus passes.

She is looking for the environmental, consensus vote that tends to get dismissed as too soft and woolly for the "real world" of macho politics.

But you could make a case that Ms Boyack's style is more appropriate for the collegiate coalition world of the Scottish Parliament than someone born in the knock-em-down adversarial school of Westminster.

But most of the political journalists do not rate her. Neil Findlay is also said to lack Mr Murphy's much-vaunted charisma and toughness, though as a former bricklayer, he is no pushover. Mr Findlay has the support of Scotland's biggest union, Unison, and the tacit support now of Unite, which is the second.

The days of the bloc vote are gone, but the recommendations of the union leadership will carry weight with their members. And many have yet to be convinced Mr Murphy is their man.

According to Professor John Curtice's authoritative blog What Scotland Thinks, Jim Murphy as leader would make very little difference to Labour's chances at the next election. When YouGov asked respondents whether they would be more likely to vote Labour if he were in charge, only one per cent indicated they would.

Who knows, with the infighting with Mr Alexander and the shadow of London Labour hanging over the Murphy candidature, perhaps the race is not such a walkover after all. If Ms Boyack and Mr Findlay could somehow arrange a job share, they might be in with a chance.

The recommendations of the union leadership will carry weight with members. Many are not convinced Mr Murphy is their man.