THE health secretary has denied Nicola Sturgeon is now "damaged goods" after MSPs said she misled parliament over the Alex Salmond affair.

Jeane Freeman strongly defended the First Minister as questions about her credibility and longevity were raised at the daily Covid briefing.

Ms Freeman said she was sure Ms Sturgeon did not mislead parliament, and called her “most excellent”.

However she confirmed that deputy First Minister John Swinney would be expected to lead the pandemic effort in Ms Sturgeon’s place if she was forced to resign for breaching the ministerial code.

Ms Sturgeon is under growing pressure to quit after the Holyrood inquiry into the Salmond affair concluded, on a 5-4 vote, that she gave them an “inaccurate account” of her actions.

In particular, that she denied offering to intervene to help Mr Salmond with a sexual misconduct probe being conducted by her officials in 2018.

The MSPs preferred other witness evidence, including from a former SNP MSP Duncan Hamilton QC, that Ms Sturgeon did offer to help her predecessor with the matter.

READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon 'misled parliament' over Alex Salmond affair, inquiry finds

At the time, Mr Salmond wanted the matter resolved discreetly through mediation.

The full report is due out on Tuesday.

Ms Sturgeon insists she told the truth.

It is a breach of the ministerial code to mislead parliament, and a resignation offence to mislead it knowingly. 

A separate investigation by former Irish prosecutor James Hamilton is due to give the definitive ruling on whether Ms Sturgeon breached the code next week.

At the daily briefing, Ms Freeman was asked repeatedly about public trust in Ms Sturgeon in light of the inquiry’s leaked conclusion.

Asked how people could have faith in the Government’s health messages and whether Ms Sturgeon was damaged goods in delivering them, Ms Freeman said: “No, it’s not the case.

“All of the people watching.. I am so grateful to them for paying attention and trusting us with their compliance with those restrictions because they can see the difference it makes, they can see the rationale for doing that. That’s what counts.

“We will deal with the public of Scotland as the adults they are.”

READ MORE: Keir Starmer says Nicola Sturgeon must quit if she broke ministerial code

Asked if she believed the First Minister should resign if she misled parliament, Ms Freeman said: “I do not believe the First Minister should resign. I do not believe she has misled parliament, and I have absolute confidence in the veracity of what she said in those eight hours of evidence to that committee, in her integrity and in her professionalism.

“I am not going to comment on unattributed briefings about a report which has not yet been published.”

Pressed on how whether dismissing the findings from the inquiry was undermining faith in the parliamentary system, she said: “I’m not dismissing anything. What I’m saying to you is the report has not yet been published, and I am not going to comment on unattributed reports or briefings on anything, actually.”

Pressed again on trust in democratic institutions, she said the key word in the claim that Ms Sturgeon potentially misled parliament was “potentially”.

READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon's office trash Alex Salmond inquiry after bombshell finding

She said: “We will know all of that when we see the report that is finally published, but most importantly the independent report into whether or not the First Minister breached the ministerial code.

"Not yet published. Let’s deal with those matters when they arise.”

Asked what the contingency plan was for leading the coronavirus response in the event the First Minister did resign, Ms Freeman said: “We have a deputy First Minister, but I have no expectation at all that our current, most excellent First Minister will resign.”