Alex Salmond, the beloved leader of the Scottish nation, was asked some pointed questions yesterday by Brian Taylor, that BBC chap in the braces.

"Why are you such a smug git? Why are you such a pompous oaf? Why don't you just go away?"

Mr Taylor was not voicing personal opinion but posing questions which had been posted on a BBC webchat. Salmond, whose ability to ignore criticism makes the average duck's back appear porous, replied that it was nice of his family to participate in the online conversation.

Such is the SNP leader's egregious self-confidence that even his loyal deputy felt at liberty to have a wee dig. In her conference speech, Nicola Sturgeon said despite the fantastic job the SNP government was doing and how popular the Nats are with the populace, she was "not about to indulge in a bout of triumphalism or self-congratulation".

"I always think it's better to leave that to Alex," she said. Salmond and Sturgeon are a well-balanced double act. He is the glib smirk with the dirk. She is totally free from self-aggrandisement.

There is no danger of getting carried away with the Sturgeon rhetoric. She speaks f-a-r t-o-o s-l-o-w-l-y for that. Then. There. Are. The. Strange. Pauses. In. The. Middle. Of. Her. Sentences.

What Sturgeon does well is the nippy sweetie routine. No broken pay packets with this lady. "We fight Scotland's corner," she said. "We have - and, let me tell you, we will continue - to stand up to the Westminster bullies." It was the "let me tell you" bit that sounded the most ominous.

Ms Sturgeon does not have much time for Westminster. It is responsible for the early deaths of thousands of Scots. What she actually said was: "Consider that: oil-rich Scotland with the lowest life-expectancy in Western Europe. What an indictment of decades of London government."

So who killed all those 64-year-olds in Shettleston? Westminster. It was nothing to do with the Buckie or deep-fried pizzas.

Addressing the conference in her red suit, Ms Sturgeon stole more than Labour's clothes. The SNP were pinching Labour heroes, invoking the spirit of Nye Bevan as they vowed to completely abolish prescription charges in this parliament's lifetime.

Then she recruited legendary Labour housing minister John Wheatley posthumously to the Nationalist cause. She said Wendy Alexander had recently claimed to be the inheritor of the Wheatley legacy - but the SNP would be the party to build thousands of council houses. And these houses would never be sold. In opposing this reform of the tenant's right to buy, Scottish Labour had become the "last desperate defenders of Thatcher's policies."

While no great orator, Ms Sturgeon did stray very slightly into Martin Luther King territory. She has this dream, although she didn't say so in quite these terms. She said: "Over the past year, we have come such a long way. But the best, the real prize, our country's independence, is yet to come." But just as she was verging on the charismatic, she brought her speech to an end.

The third member of the SNP trinity is John Swinney. While Gordon Brown moved from being a solid performer at the Treasury to troubled times as prime minister, Swinney has moved from a less than sparkling spell as SNP leader to become a successful chancellor.

Swinney piloted a minority government's budget through parliament. He froze council tax. He brought about peace in our time between Holyrood and Scotland's local authorities. The boy Swinney has done so good he could even make a comeback as leader one day.