BEATING the virus is paramount, we need our world to return to what passes for normal as soon as possible. But there’s a side issue being debated at the moment; are women in a better position to look after the health and wealth of nations than men? And if a clutch of women currently head a legion of world superheroes against the pandemic, should First Minister Nicola Sturgeon be included in the line up?

Influential American business magazine Forbes argues that the best world leaders in the Covid battle are female. “From Iceland to Taiwan and from Germany to New Zealand, women are stepping up to show the world how to manage a messy patch for our human family,” it declared, adding that the female leaders in Finland, Iceland and Denmark have also been shown to have superpowers.

Do they?

It’s hard to argue against Angela Merkel’s case for wearing a cape, bringing a calm and direction in containing Germany to mortality rates of around 1.6 per cent. In Britain they are 10 per cent.

The Taiwan case study is also impressive. Back in January Tsai Ing-Wen introduced 124 measures to block the spread without having to resort to the lockdowns. (She is now sending 10 million face masks to the US and Europe.)

We’ve had great score cards, too, for Iceland’s Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir who offered free Covid testing to all its citizens. And Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solber had the innovative idea of using television to talk directly to her country’s children.

There’s also a strong case for reimagining New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern in brightly coloured Lycra and virus-reflecting bracelets, considering her strategy of early lockdown, self-isolation and immediate banning of foreigners – all laced with a tooth fairy compassion.

Women leaders certainly come out incredibly well against the thuggish, testosterone-driven responders such as Donald Trump and Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro, and the initially pedestrian Boris Johnson and Vladimir Putin.

But are women, per se, better in a pandemic? Last year, the Harvard Business Review found that women outscored men on 17 of the 19 capabilities that differentiate the excellent from the also rans.

The commentator Arwa Mahdawi doesn’t think that being a woman automatically makes you better. “What is true, however, is that women generally have to be better in order to become leaders; we are held to far higher standards than men.”

Perhaps. Yet, let’s never forget politicians such as Theresa May, Diane Abbott and Priti Patel can rise without trace of talent.

Let’s also consider the male talent that’s shone recently. Ireland’s Leo Varadkar’s Covid strategies and calm have been inspirational. I’d have Andrew Cuomo in the Scottish Government any day of the week. And South Korea’s Moon Jae-In revealed himself to be as fast and furious as Vin Diesel.

Which brings us to Scotland’s leader. There is little doubt that Nicola Sturgeon is a powerful politician. Emphatic and unyielding in her delivery, a YouGov poll suggests 71 per cent of Scots have, ‘a lot or fair amount of confidence in the First Minister.’

Our FM is certainly an excellent performer. But her powers of vacillation lead me to worry that her results haven't been much better than her leading man, Johnson.

Right now, Nicola Sturgeon is arguing (rightly) for remaining in lockdown, social distancing, testing, tracing, and isolation and the use of face masks. And using technology where appropriate.

But what of this was transmitted six weeks ago via her appointed superhero, the ex-dentist-turned Covid spin doctor Professor Jason Leitch? Why didn’t Sturgeon demand answers to why 15,000 people daily were being allowed into Britain as Covid tore around the planet?

Why the volte face? “The science has moved,” said Leitch this week. No it hasn’t. Your interpretation of the science has moved to suit.

Which begs the question: did Nicola Sturgeon fear back in mid-March that her sidekick Johnson was making the wrong choices? If so, her political integrity can’t be trusted. But if she genuinely didn’t see that testing and tracing and isolation, for example, were the answer it’s her powers of evaluation that can’t be trusted.

Spiked magazine columnist Ella Whelan brings a common sense summary to the male-female leadership debate. “Women are taking a leading role in fighting this virus,” she wrote. “But not because they are biologically predisposed to do so.”

The gender of the cape wearer is not important. What is important is integrity, truth and foresight.

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