IT came a day early to avoid the European elections, but FMQs will stay long in the mind for one of the most brutal, knee-scything putdowns heard at Holyrood in many a year.
Nicola Sturgeon thought she was onto a winner with her attack on Ruth Davidson as a born-again BoJo-phile.
The Scottish Tory leader and Boris Johnson have never exactly seen eye to eye.
They were in opposite corners in the EU debate. Ms Davidson accused him of peddling mince. Less savoury terms were used in private.
Tory MSPs generally think of the former Foreign Secretary as a dangerous clown.
When he tried to pitch up at her recent party conference in Aberdeen to audition for the Tory leadership, Ms Davidson shooed him away like a seagull that was after her chips.
But that was a crazy three weeks ago. With BoJo now appearing doomed to be Prime Minister, Ms Davidson had told a newspaper she was ready to work with him after all.
Well, if you’ve experienced a nappy bin, you can hold your nose for almost anything.
When Ms Davidson accused the SNP of ignoring votes it didn’t like, the FM instantly hauled Boris into the mix.
“The difference perhaps between Ruth Davidson and I is this - I’ve got principles and I stick to my principles,” she crowed.
Once, Ms Davidson opposed Brexit, now she supports it! Once, she demanded to stay in the single market, now she wants out!
“And Ruth Davidson, of course, use to call Boris Johnson names that I can’t repeat in this chamber - now she is cosying up to Boris Johnson, the arch-Brexiteer.”
As the SNP benches roared, John Swinney could be heard chuckling “Cosy, cosy...”
Then the word “Salmond” wafted across the chamber. I suspect it was Labour’s Neil Findlay who said it. But I always suspect him of something. It gave Ms Davidson her cue.
“Presiding Officer,” she said with a wicked glint. “I’ve never had a problem standing up to the alpha males in my own party. I wonder if the First Minister is able always to have said the same?”
This to a FM who last week admitted suffering from imposter syndrome, who is constantly compared to Eck, who is being briefed against by her predecessor’s camp. Had she ever really stepped out of his doubt-free shadow?
There was a mass wince. This was part psychological warfare, part headbutt.
Ms Sturgeon smiled meekly. Her MSPs stopped cheering.
Tory deputy Jackson Carlaw said something that would give our lawyers kittens.
Ms Sturgeon’s BoJo mojo was well and truly banjoed.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel