Patrick O’Flynn Patrick O’Flynn

Rishi Sunak deserves credit for the downfall of Nicola Sturgeon

(Photo: Getty)

Political leaders are like tribal chiefs and one way of assessing their fortunes is by counting up the number of heads they have accumulated from the toppled leaders of rival tribes.

Tony Blair had the shrunken skulls of John Major, William Hague, Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard threaded around his waist when he left the stage.

Sunak never gave the SNP leader grounds to caricature him as an arrogant Sassenach

It undoubtedly enhanced Keir Starmer’s authority when Boris Johnson was brought down, though his part in the immolation of Liz Truss soon afterwards was less obvious.

On this basis, Rishi Sunak is entitled to point to a modest enhancement of his political capital via the business of the downfall of Nicola Sturgeon.

Her job was to break up the Union, he was the guy in charge of sustaining it. She has failed and he has succeeded.

And a quick perusal of the circumstances points to the conclusion that while his role in her downfall is by no means the whole story, it is certainly more than tangential.

The Prime Minister’s reaction yesterday to news of Sturgeon’s departure highlighted one weapon he used against her well: being so obviously reasonable, respectful and polite. He never gave the SNP leader grounds to caricature him as an arrogant Sassenach who could be suspected of being in sympathy with the redcoats who once upon a time chased poor Mel Gibson around peatbogs.

Yet he was, in his understated way, completely steadfast in ruling out Westminster giving the First Minister permission to hold another referendum on separatism. To put it in cricketing terms, this was his standard, forward-defensive response to Sturgeon’s hostile bowling.

But there was more to his Sturgeon-thwarting than that. Because when she bowled a loose delivery, as she did with her Gender Recognition Reform legislation, he smashed that bad ball out of the park.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in