A COUPLE of months ago there were more than a few haggard, war weary referendum campaigners (on the No side, at least) who were looking forward wistfully to a lull in Scottish politics between the vote and the general election looming into view in the New Year.

How misguided they were.

The big occasions just keep on coming, set in train by the surprise resignations of Alex Salmond and Johann Lamont. On Thursday Mr Salmond faced his 215th and final First Minister's Questions. Yesterday, Nicola Sturgeon formally took over as SNP leader while Mr Salmond made an emotional farewell speech to his party conference. Ms Sturgeon addresses the faithful for the first time as leader today. She will be voted in as First Minister at Holyrood next week and then we can expect a cabinet reshuffle and a plan for her first 100 days in office.

Those still hankering after a slowdown in the political pace will be disappointed, however, because if interest in Ms Sturgeon's honeymoon begins to wane, the Smith Commission is waiting in the wings. Lord Smith is due to publish recommendations on further devolution, based on negotiations between the parties, at the end of this month.

The row over whether they meet pledges made during the referendum campaign or fall short should last until Scottish Labour announces the result of its leadership election on December 13. Then there will be the frontbench reshuffle and, who knows, another 100 days action plan. Lull? Scotland's politicos will be lucky to get half a day's Christmas shopping.

The relentless pace makes it harder to pause and look ahead. But some long-term themes are emerging from the frenzy. On the face of it, the constitution continues to dominate the agenda. But under the surface an equally important battle is taking place - and the struggle between left and right affects both the SNP and Labour.

For many in Labour, the lesson of the referendum is simple. Facing a clamour for change, the party had nothing to say. Traditional Labour heartlands like Glasgow, North Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire turned a deaf ear to the party's case for remaining in a Conservative-led UK and voted Yes. There is universal frustration among Labour folk that the SNP has managed to portray itself as a progressive, left of centre party - the claim is not matched by actual policy, they grumble - but at least there is a lesson to be learned from the Nats' successful branding exercise.

If Labour moved to the left and outflanked the SNP it would reconnect with its old support including many of the 45 per cent of Scots who voted Yes simply for change, rather than a deep-rooted desire for independence. Nonsense, according to another Labour view, which insists elections are won from the centre ground in Scotland as much as the rest of the UK.

Jim Murphy makes Labour's choice clearer than ever in an interview with The Herald today. His instinctive support for universal entitlements such as free prescriptions and free bus passes for all over-60s places him firmly in the centre. He believes in "something for something," he says, and if those policies have proved big vote winners for the SNP, well, he's not going to lose any sleep over that. With Labour leadership hustings kicking off this weekend, party members can look forward to lively clashes between Mr Murphy and main rival Neil Findlay, the left-wing MSP with a raft of trade union endorsements.

The SNP have some thinking of their own to do. It's widely assumed Ms Sturgeon will move the SNP to the left. The shift would reflect her personal politics, the theory goes, and appeal to many of the party's 60,000 new members. The Tories are rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect. It would be hugely risky, a Conservative MSP suggested to me, especially if Nationalists continue to press for a second independence referendum. The SNP's small 'c' conservative heartlands of Aberdeenshire, Moray, Angus, Perthshire and Clackmannanshire, all of which voted No,would quickly lose confidence in Ms Sturgeon he reckoned.

It's the age old struggle. How the two parties respond will have a huge bearing on next year's big occasion, the UK general election.