Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Why the SNP’s Nicola Sturgeon may well win Thursday’s leaders debate

I know it’s early, but I’d like to tip a winner from Thursday’s debate: Nicola Sturgeon. SNP leader. She has just been positioned next to the Prime Minister, who’ll be on the far-right. This which will cause relief in Tory HQ who had been worried about his being flanked by Nigel Farage and Sturgeon. The lineup, from left to right, is as follows:-

Natalie Bennett – Nick Clegg – Nigel Farage – Ed Miliband – Leanne Wood – Nicola Sturgeon – David Cameron

Sturgeon will be new to an English audience, and is certain to impress. So far, the write-ups haven’t done her justice: there have been too many Jimmy Krankie jokes and not enough proper analysis of the phenomenon that she represents.

Salmond standing down to make way for her was a masterstroke; it allowed the SNP to rejuvenate and convert its referendum defeat into the political landslide now underway.

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