Sturgeon’s cabinet reshuffle marks the beginning of the end

Greater love, as wags responded to Harold Macmillan’s “night of the long knives” reshuffle, hath no man than that he lay down his friends for his political life. Well, Nicola Sturgeon’s political life is not threatened just yet but, even so, there was a whiff of this as she reshuffled her cabinet this week. If it wasn’t quite a night of long knives, it was certainly an afternoon of wee dirks. 

The headline was the departure of Shona Robison, the health secretary, and one of the first minister’s closest political friends. Labour and the Liberal Democrats have repeatedly called for Robison’s resignation; yesterday they were given their prize. In truth, Robison has endured a rotten time and not just in terms of her professional responsibilities. Her marriage was destroyed by the infidelity of her husband, the Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie, and both her parents died in the past year. A step back is an opportunity to regather herself. Most