Has Nicola Sturgeon emerged from this crisis unscathed?
- Published
Nicola Sturgeon survived a confidence vote at Holyrood on Tuesday
For the last few weeks, Nicola Sturgeon has been under more pressure than at any other stage in her career.
Some of that is down to criticism from her political opponents. Much of it down to the man who was once her closest ally - Alex Salmond.
In the last 24 hours or so, this story has reached its climax. Ms Sturgeon will be relieved, and I suspect delighted, with how events have panned out.
The first minister's position is stronger tonight than it has been for weeks.
The finding of the independent adviser that she did not break the ministerial code was the most important verdict in this process.
On each of the four areas investigated, he ruled she had not broken the rules.
Ms Sturgeon revealed tonight that she would have resigned if James Hamilton's verdict had gone the other way - the stakes were incredibly high this week. In the end, that report couldn't have gone better for the first minister.
That doesn't mean there was no criticism. Far from it.
The committee findings are serious and undoubtedly will cause some uncomfortable reading in the first minister's team.
Ms Sturgeon's government has been found to have overseen a deeply flawed harassment policy - which ultimately let down two complainants.
It has been criticised for continuing with a judicial review defence - which could have cost taxpayers a lot of money.
A majority on the committee didn't buy her account on some important parts of her story.
It has got a lot less attention, but it's also important to note that we've had a summary of the some of the evidence from the original complainers published today.
It contains claims the government did not offer them enough support. That is likely to cause some soul-searching in the corridors of power in Edinburgh.
Ms Sturgeon and Mr Salmond were once close friends and colleagues
But as Scotland prepares to fire the starting gun on the election campaign, things look very different to a month ago, when Mr Salmond very publicly left on the table the idea his successor would be forced from office.
Last month, the headlines were rife with talk of a conspiracy from people around the first minister. No smoking gun has been produced - although some continue to believe it was the case.
The way things have ended up was reflected in the confidence vote this afternoon.
The politics were such that only the Scottish Tories - and a couple of individual MSPs from other parties - decided they had seen enough this week to decide the first minister should lose her job before the election.
Labour and the Liberal Democrats, although unhappy with the first minister, didn't bite.
We can't be totally sure this story is completely over. Many will be wondering whether Mr Salmond will say anything in the coming days. Those close to him aren't giving much away at the moment.
But we've now had the verdicts of the independent adviser on the ministerial code (Ms Sturgeon cleared) and the Holyrood committee (government criticised).
Tomorrow, Holyrood will pack up for the election. The next verdict - the most important one - will be that of voters.
- Published23 March 2021
