It has been an eventful week in Scottish politics and my team has had every speculation, confirmation, appointment and reshuffle covered.

But what about making sense of it all? Looking behind the live news events to analyse, comment and discuss?

This is what, after all, so many of our valued readers come to us for; our take on the goings-on and what they could mean for the country.

And with that, today my Editor’s Pick comes from this content. What a week it has been for my team to digest.

So what is the story with Kate Forbes and business?

Ian McConnell discusses the ‘generally positive tone’ from the business community to the appointment of Kate Forbes as Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for the Economy. Could she soothe the animosity towards the SNP from the sector? It all depends if Swinney, Forbes and their team deliver, writes McConnell.

First Minister John Swinney leads a new, slightly more humble SNP

“Mr Swinney was declared SNP leader on Monday in a ceremony that had as much fizz as a two-day-old glass of Irn-Bru,” writes Alison Rowat as she reflects on Swinney’s ‘coronation’ at Glasgow University. Deliberately low key? A sign of the party wishing to appear more humble? To put the drama of the previous fortnight behind it? In characteristic style, Rowat is both cutting and entertaining.

Ignore the bluster: why opposition now looks harder for Tories and Labour

Kate Forbes: the most talked about Scottish politician of the moment. Her return to the Cabinet, under John Swinney, signals a ‘clear intention he wants to unite his party and take his government in a very different direction from that of his predecessor Humza Yousaf’, writes Kathleen Nutt. But where does this leave the opposition? What implication could a new focus on the economy mean for Labour and the Conservatives?

Unspun: Is there going to be a hung parliament after the election?

Following a disastrous performance in the English local elections, Andrew Learmonth discusses the likelihood of a hung parliament in Westminster as Rishi Sunak clings on to power and a general election awaits. And what about the technicalities of running in a political leadership race? Are new rules needed?

Swinney's first task is to get rid of ruinous Sturgeon cabal

Was the downfall of Humza Yousaf linked to his failure to ‘de-couple’ his government from that of his predecessor, Nicola Sturgeon? Kevin McKenna certainly thinks so. One of our best-read articles this week, McKenna looks back as well as forward, focusing on relations with the Greens and controversial policies he believes cost the SNP popularity. Just how harmful was the Sturgeon era? Is it time for a spell in opposition to ‘recover fully from the damage’?

Thank you for your continued support and enjoy your weekend,

Catherine Salmond,
Editor