David McLetchie’s decency served the Tories well but they need bolder leadership now.

David McLetchie, who died this week aged only 61, was a politician who, in style and manner, rebuked those cynics who presume – lazily – that politicians go into politics to advance causes that have nothing to do with the public good.

This may seem ironic given that his own stewardship of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist party was abruptly curtailed by a row over the misuse of parliamentary taxi warrants but there you have it. That “scandal” was, as Bill Jamieson reminds us today, typical of life at Holyrood: a micro-tempest in an espresso cup. Like the “scandals” that brought down Henry McLeish and Wendy Alexander it now seems embarrassingly trivial. Officegate, Taxigate, Giftgate: never before had this tedious suffix been so abused. (Of course, McLetchie played a leading role in defenestrating poor old McLeish. But there you have it again.)

Be that as it may, no-one assuming the leadership of the Scottish Tories in 1998 could be accused of opting for an easy life or one liable to be garlanded with praise or victories.