WE are still a month from the general election and the formation of the next government, but Nicola Sturgeon has already shown she can make Whitehall dance to her tune.

After she demanded an inquiry into the leak of an inaccurate account of her meeting with the French Ambassador, the Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood promptly ordered one.

The Ambassador and French consul-general also rushed out supportive statements.

If she can make the wheels of other governments spin this fast before the election, imagine the influence she could exert with a large group of SNP MPs in a hung parliament.

The source of this clumsy smear attempt remains unclear.

The central claim, that Sturgeon told the Ambassador she would prefer David Cameron to Ed Miliband as Prime Minister, appears to have been written by a Scotland Office official in good faith after a call from the French consul-general in Edinburgh.

The sceptical scribe even included a hefty caveat: "I have to admit I'm not sure that the FM's tongue would be quite so loose. It might well be a case of something being lost in translation."

The Telegraph then reported what was a genuine, if inaccurate, memo.

The paper was certainly over-eager to run a scoop damaging the SNP and should have carried out more checks, but the material was authentic, even if the information contained in it was false.

The real mischief took place with the leaking of the memo.

Labour would have been the most obvious beneficiaries had it been true.

It has already claimed the SNP and Tories are in an "unholy alliance", the former wrecking Labour to keep Cameron in power - the ideal backdrop for a new independence referendum.

A memo proving that Sturgeon privately wanted Cameron in power would have been a godsend in seats where Labour supporters are switching to the SNP.

But in opposition Labour should not have access to such restricted memos.

It also seems perverse that the Conservatives should leak a document helpful to Labour.

Hence the suspicion falling on the LibDems, who are also threatened by an SNP surge.

Wherever the leak originated it shows somebody, somewhere is panicking.

And just as happened during the referendum, that fear is leading to dirty tricks.

Sturgeon's opponents are right to worry.

Her performance on last week's ITV leaders' debate showed her strengths to a new audience and they liked it.

One reason was her focus on values and hope, not scapegoating and austerity.

She presented an alternative not only to the Westminster old boys' network, but to the timid managerialism that has sucked the life out of UK politics and alienated voters.

Above all, she embodied what Westminster fears most - change.

But change is coming whether Westminster likes it or not.