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.
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