WHO would be Lord Smith of Kelvin this weekend?

The former accountant appointed to lead the Commission on more powers for Holyrood has an impressive CV in business, with stints at RBS, Bank of Scotland and Morgan Grenfell.

Ever busy, he is chancellor of Strathclyde University and chairman of SSE. The crossbench peer also helped deliver the ­Commonwealth Games in his home city.

But what experience could prepare anyone for trying to hammer the pre-referendum vow made by the Unionist parties on more powers into a coherent agreement in just a few weeks?

A deal requires negotiations between five parties ahead of a General Election, based on five jarring plans, not to mention Gordon Brown bellowing his tuppenceworth from the sidelines.

The former first minister, Henry McLeish, said yesterday that he did not envy Smith.

A November 30 deadline has also been imposed - a "breakneck" timetable which risks excluding civic Scotland and voters, McLeish noted.

Meanwhile, the same point was made by church, union and third-sector leaders in a letter to Smith, which said a "citizen-led process" would be needed to inform the legislation due next year after the Commission had concluded.

There should be no shortage of volunteers. Political engagement is soaring, thanks to the referendum and the glimpse of a better Scotland it provided. As thousands gather today in Glasgow's George Square for the Hope Over Fear rally, the Scottish Greens will continue their largest-ever conference in Edinburgh.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Left Project is working to elect more socialist MSPs in 2016, and the Radical Independence Campaign is selling out the 3000-seat Clyde Auditorium for a conference.

Such a flowering of democracy ought to snap the Unionist parties out of any complacency. ­Unfortunately, it may have the opposite effect. The political classes, like all establishments, are wary of shifts that challenge their power. They are used to being in charge.

Rather than embracing change, their instinctive response might well be to resist it and hunker down in their tribal comfort zones.

The Sunday Herald is determined that the best possible deal should emerge from the Smith Commission.

Thereafter, we trust the people of Scotland to polish the result ahead of legislation.

But the former is key to the latter. A disappointing deal will not improve with age, while a solid package of new powers will sell itself.

At the risk of crushing him with advice, we suggest Smith heeds the message contained in this weekend's letter from civic Scotland.

Politics as usual is a dead end. The country has changed, and he must ensure that the parties round his table understand that.