HOW times change on Coronation street.

In 1953, the Queen's ascent to the throne was marked by her acceptance of the "four symbols of authority" - the orb, the royal ring of sapphire and rubies, the sceptre, and the rod of mercy, the last proving, once again, that no-one can touch the British state when it comes to silly titles.

At 9am on Wednesday, October 15, in the year of our Lord, 2014, Ms Nicola Sturgeon of Glasgow was confirmed as the only contender for the leadership of the SNP, thus assuring her coronation as the head of her party and, formalities to be concluded, the first female First Minister of Scotland.

History does not yet record the four symbols of authority Ms Sturgeon was handed, but one might hazard a guess. First, there would surely have been a boxed set of her beloved Borgen, the Danish television show about the fictional Birgitte Nyborg, Denmark's first female prime minister. Next in the goodie bag would be a new iPhone. Third comes a letter of advice from Alex Salmond, the departing First Minister. There will be time to read that later; a dull afternoon in autumn 2037 sounds about right. Finally, she will unwrap the Heels of Power, as worn by female leaders everywhere.

Just as the Queen embarked on a tour of the Commonwealth after her Coronation, so Ms Sturgeon is to hit the road for a tour of Scotland that takes in such venues as the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Eden Court Theatre in Inverness, and finishes in the first week of December at the Music Hall, Aberdeen.

The tour has not yet been given a name. The Boss (that's Springsteen, not Mr Salmond) had his Born In The USA tour, the Stones their Steel Wheels, and Madonna her Blonde Ambition.

Whatever Ms Sturgeon's might be dubbed, one can rest assured it will not be the Nippy Sweetie Tour. The days of such cheap, sexist insults are now surely behind her. From now on, it is silk-lined sexist insults all the way. It is progress, one supposes.

Despite Ms Sturgeon being de facto leader of her party for some time now, and the fact there are two other women party leaders at Holyrood, the new way of things is only now becoming apparent. Whatever one's view of Ms Sturgeon, Ms Lamont and Ms Davidson, it is surely a source of pride for any Scot that women have assumed the top roles in all three main parties without a shot being fired.

It was not long before the first barb came her way, though. In the Commons, Scotland Office Minister David Mundell, known as Tian Tian in these parts, took the opportunity to congratulate Ms Sturgeon for "emulating Margaret Thatcher" in becoming the first female leader of her party. Angus Robertson, the SNP's leader at Westminster, embraced the comment in the snarky spirit in which it was intended, denying any resemblance to the political artist formerly known as She Who Must Be Obeyed, Attila The Hen, and other soubriquets.

"Nicola Sturgeon will be leading the most popular political party in Scotland," barked Mr Robertson. "Margaret Thatcher destroyed the Tory Party and you are the living proof - they have only one seat in Scotland."

The comparison was wrong for many other reasons. There were women in political power before Mrs Thatcher (starting, for argument's sake, with Eve) and there have been women in power after, but the Baroness has become the lazy comparison. Yet Mrs Thatcher had about as much time for feminism and the advancement of women as she had for Geoffrey Howe later in his career.

"I owe nothing to women's lib," she proclaimed. In a certain sense she was right. Mrs Thatcher was a daddy's girl who tried her best to be the ideal son. A rich husband freed her to pursue the political career she lived for. Not for her the 7am dash to the nursery or the 11.30pm shop at Tesco. She worked hard for her success, certainly, but she was a woman able to act like a man in a man's world. Decades before Miriam Gonzalez Clegg came along to declare she did not want to have it all but to have what men have - a family and career - Mrs Thatcher was walking that walk.

A closer match for Ms Sturgeon might be Barbara Castle, the redoubtable Labour minister.

It is not just the obvious comparisons, such as being politically active from teenage days, mother a councillor, or the ability to look nicely turned out at 5.30am on an election morning when the rest of us look as if we have been in a fight with a hedge trimmer.

Ms Sturgeon has the same love of a good scrap as the late Baroness Castle of Blackburn. Both slight of build, they have the opposite of small man syndrome.

Not for them feeling inferior and powerless in a room full of their male peers. They are alpha female types, even if, in Ms Sturgeon's case, she had to park those instincts during her deputy leader years.

She is hitting the ground sprinting now, though. Her six-date tour of Scotland certainly passes the duck test: if it looks like the start of another independence campaign, if it sounds like the beginnings of another independence campaign, then it is. First stop the General Election next year, next one the Scottish Parliament elections the year after.

It is the sort of gambit Barbara Castle would have admired - taking the fight to the people, not letting the grass grow under her heels. Barbara Castle knew her constituency, and knew how to court it to best effect.

She could be a bruiser when needed, but she far preferred to win the day with a solid argument, which she did on equal pay, even if the legislation is to this day honoured more in spirit than practice. Will Ms Sturgeon win her argument, tour or no tour?

There has to be a flashing question mark over that one. Whether she can grab any more of the Labour vote, and so nudge the vote for independence into majority territory, is far from guaranteed. She can talk the old time Labour religion. She can promise, because she does not yet have the means to deliver, a radical redistribution of wealth.

And when measured against the current excuse for a Labour Party in Scotland, her party looks the left-leaning business. But for all the talk of a democratic renaissance in Scotland the tribal divides remain strong.

One is left wondering if this tour of Scotland is not premature, whether Scotland is ready for Billy Graham-style democratic revival meetings. Look what happened to Neil Kinnock in Sheffield. Poor Neil. He was never "all right" after that display of hubris. For all that Ms Sturgeon has seemed to be around on the scene forever, has she really been tested as a political operator?

This is what matters in the end. Not her gender, but her gallusness; not the pitch of her voice but what she is saying; and not her way with words but her ability to deliver. Power has been a long time coming for her, but the real tests have only just begun.