Scotland will soon have a new government, with two Green ministers for the first time in British history.

The news is slightly a surprise, despite the fact negotiations began months ago. The SNP evidently doesn’t need a formal pact to elicit green support as a minority government and possesses one of the tightest leadership teams in modern politics – cheerfully repelling all boarders from its own grassroots never mind the overtures of rival party leaders. The announcement featured a solitary Nicola Sturgeon flanked by the two Scottish Green co-leaders. Was there a temptation to put John Swinney in the frame to even up numbers? Probably not.

Even though she’s happy to stand beside experts in Covid briefings, the First Minister doesn’t share the political limelight and it may be convenient to suggest a greater green clout in government than will ever actually exist to help Ms Sturgeon manage internal dissent.

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Friendly fire is a far bigger threat for each "co-operating" party than external criticism, especially since the opposition has shot itself in the collective foot with petty, spiteful and near hysterical reactions.

Labour, the Tories and LibDems could hardly be expected to welcome an SNP/Green coalition – the "co-operation deal" apparently does constitute a coalition according to the SNP’s constitution, as ex-Green MSP Andy Wightman has pointed out on Twitter.

But opposition attacks on the SNP/Green deal have been so unnecessarily savage they help confirm its powerful, progressive allure – after all, no-one kicks a dead cat.

Scotland’s new leadership trio have committed themselves to joint working and the very idea of co-operation appeals to everyone sick of bickering in the face of epic challenges facing Scotland and the planet (and I’d guess that includes many No voters). Leaders like Douglas Ross and Anas Sarwar may not accept the consequences of a proportional voting system, but Scottish voters prefer it to first past the post for one simple reason. The fairness of PR bangs heids together and discourages knee-jerk opposition by parties who actually agree on almost everything. I’d guess the Covid years have left the public heartily sick of that and whilst genuine differences will not disappear – over Scotland’s constitutional future and the controversial Gender Recognition Act – parties providing a semblance of co-operation are probably delivering what the public expects.

The joint platform itself – green jobs, greater equality and fairness – is fairly appealing for everyone who doesn’t vote Tory. And whilst Motherhood and Apple Pie is more easily described than achieved, it’s novel and vaguely uplifting to hearing these values asserted on network TV beyond the platitude-inducing period of an election campaign.

The trio want a second indyref during this parliament – that’s vital for independence supporters to hear and maybe tolerable for those who grudgingly support a second vote to clear the air.

Above all, the arrangement looks and sounds new and refreshed – despite the lead partner being in government for longer than the Tories at Westminster.

As far as the optics go, it’s a winner – as the curmudgeonly response from opposition leaders helps prove.

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Anas Sarwar predicts a "coalition of cuts" and claims the deal shows "Scottish Greens are just a branch office of the SNP". Branch office accusations are dangerous enough for Scottish Labour leaders. But Sarwar’s over-hyped criticism – after a pledge in May to prioritise national recovery and "work with any party to make that happen" – might be an even greater hostage to fortune. Does he really mean he’ll work with any party except the SNP/Greens?

Will Scottish Labour MSPs actually vote against a package that includes rent controls, investment in active travel, public transport, marine renewables, green heating and new jobs?

Equally, whilst Alex Cole Hamilton is doubtless peeved that the SNP/Green deal completely overshadowed his own election as Scottish LibDem leader, how can he wholeheartedly oppose a platform that acknowledges Willie Rennie’s long running campaign for better mental health services with wellbeing support for school pupils and 3,500 additional teachers and 500 classroom assistants?

Of course, voters expect robust scrutiny as the budget and related legislation rumble through Holyrood. But they don’t expect knee-jerk opposition. Especially from parties that are fairly adept at forming coalitions with one another when it suits them – in local government, Westminster and Better Together. Holyrood’s opposition is now solidly unionist, so there’s a danger that a carping blanket opposition to popular measures will further saddle the case for the Union with sullen "No Surrender" negativity.

The Scottish Conservatives, for example, want the Scottish Greens blocked from any formal role at First Minister’s Questions since they now form part of government. Does this look anything other than petty and childish? As for Douglas Ross describing the new partnership as a "coalition of chaos" – does that charge even vaguely stick while Dominic (beach lounger) Raab remains in post despite abandoning Afghan nationals to the Taliban?

It’ll be hard for opposition parties to knock this alliance without looking old school, un-co-operative and un-green – unless the coalition/co-operation deal unravels under internal pressure.

And there’s a good chance it will.

For one thing, there’ll be greater scrutiny of the Scottish Greens. Journalists won’t miss rank and file hostility towards the SNP’s support for new oil drilling and cosy connections with big business. And even though the party’s co-leaders and negotiating team are fully committed to an early independence referendum, some green foot-soldiers are less keen.

There will be raised expectations on the left that issues cold-shouldered by the SNP – like a Land Tax to fund local government or tax-raising to avoid Covid cuts – could now be championed in government by the Greens.

Meanwhile, the SNP must manage a membership, shaken by the Alba split, which can only watch whilst a rival party’s leaders gain more access to Nicola Sturgeon than a side-lined membership has ever done.

But they might thole that if the coalition deal gives Scotland and Holyrood a fresh, re-energised, eco-focus which also leaves Westminster standing. Ironically the more nay-sayers spell out the dangerous, chequered history of coalitions, the braver SNP and Green politicians appear.

God loves a trier.

Perhaps we’ll discover that Scottish voters do too.

Our columns are a platform for writers to express their opinions. They do not necessarily represent the views of The Herald.