Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg opened with the prediction of a busy few days ahead with the coronation and local elections.

She might have added “except for viewers in Scotland”. In a YouGov poll last week, seven in 10 Scots said they did not care about the coronation. As for those elections, they are England only.

Should you head for the hills or stay home and pull the duvet over your head till it is all over? Good luck with either option. I fear the blanket broadcast coverage coming our way, most of it from London, means it will take a minor miracle to escape talk of crowns and potholes for the next week.

Yet Scots do have dogs in these fights. Interested or not, we will still have to contribute to the coronation's cost (£250 million says the Sunday Mirror).

Those English elections are worth noting too, since they will be the first real electoral test of Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister who owes his position to Conservative MPs and not the wider public.

READ MORE: Scots backlash over oath of allegiance

The same goes to some extent for Sir Keir Starmer, who became Labour leader in April 2020.

Labour has benefited in the polls from a rocky few years for the Conservatives, but recent surveys show the gap is closing and there is a “Sunak factor” at work. An Ipsos poll in April had Labour ahead by 23 points, but Sunak’s personal rating was up slightly while Starmer’s fell. Signs of a comeback for the Tories under new “steady as she goes” management?

Just the right time, then, for Sky News' Ridge on Sunday to lead on an interview with Sir Keir about his attitudes to winning power. The Karmer style was called into question recently after a controversial attack ad targetting Rishi Sunak. Showing a picture of the Prime Minister, it said: "Do you think adults convicted of sexually assaulting children should go to prison? Rishi Sunak doesn't."

Senior Labour figures condemned the ad, with John McDonnell, former shadow chancellor, telling the leadership, “We are better than this”.

At the time, Sir Keir offered “zero apologies” for the ads, which are thought to have been seen more than 21 million times. Time for cooler heads to pervail? It seemed not.

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Host Sophy Ridge asked the Labour leader: "We know far-right groups have weaponised the sexual abuse committed by Asian grooming gangs – a very small minority of Asians. Your attack ad accuses the first ever British Asian prime minister of not thinking child sex abusers should go to prison. Is it racist?"

Sir Keir replied: "No of course it's not.”

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For wholly Scottish content viewers could turn to BBC Scotland’s The Sunday Show, which had a useful package on the low emission zones about to start operating in Glasgow. Its headline interview was with Douglas Ross, leader of the Scottish Conservatives.

Speaking from his home in Moray, Mr Ross’s backdrop was a picture of rolling green hills, complete with sunlit uplands. It matched his mood after what had been a successful party conference – if you don’t count a stushie between the Scottish media and Number 10. Mr Ross conceded the row over access to a visiting Rishi Sunak “could have been handled better”.

He made no apology for his own speech and its focus on other parties. Host Martin Geissler had run the speech through software that showed Mr Ross’s 45-minute address devoted 1100 of its 4500 words to the SNP.

Geissler cantered through potentially tricky areas including Brexit and public sector strikes, but Mr Ross’s determination to look on the bright side of life shone on.

On the resignation of Richard Sharp as BBC chairman, Geissler asked “for a bit of fun” what would be the one change Mr Ross would make to the BBC in the unlikely event he became chair.

“I’d take you off air so you could watch Hearts more,” joked the Tory leader.

Also in the mood for some silliness was Kate Forbes, former contender for the SNP leadership. She was responding to a story in the Sunday Times that plotters were working on a coup that would oust Humza Yousaf and install her as First Minister.

The MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch tweeted: "I’d usually ignore articles with ‘sources’ purporting to speak for me and about me, but the latest ‘coup’ piece tonight is ridiculous. I’m busy enough – contributing to policy debates, supporting the party and working in the constituency, where there are no shortage of fine coos.” Underneath was a picture of a Highland cow looking windswept and interesting.

 

 

She missed the chance to follow Nicola Sturgeon into the First Minister’s job, but with winning puns like that Ms Forbes could be heading for a sideline career in stand-up comedy.