Ian Blackford’s departure as Westminster leader has brought to an end a turbulent five years in charge of the SNP group.
Succeeding Angus Robertson in 2017 was one of the great comebacks in SNP history. Over 20 years ago Blackford was cast into political Siberia for launching an attack on the then party leader Alex Salmond. Political observers were astonished when he was elected to Westminster in 2015, later becoming leader.
But Blackford has had a difficult twelve months - wounds that are largely self-inflicted - and his resignation has not come as a shock. His handling of sexual harassment claims made against MP Patrick Grady by a young staffer was widely derided.
A leaked recording showed him urging colleagues to support Grady while failing to mention the MP’s victim.
He also blundered by insisting that the UK after independence would be liable for state pension payments - a nonsense claim easily debunked.
His long-standing feud with MP Joanna Cherry, whom he fired, also left a residual bitterness. A wider criticism of Blackford is that he had grown to love Westminster too much and had become part of the furniture.
One senior SNP source said it was hard to argue that the dial on independence had shifted on Blackford’s watch. If anything, Blackford’s leadership has been a reverse gear manoeuvre.
Stephen Flynn, the ambitious Aberdeen South MP, is the favourite to take over after a comically botched attempt last month. Flynn is bright and energetic, and he has championed the oil and gas industry - a position that could put him at odds with the First Minister.
But he is still a political rookie and taking over a divided and fractious group looks like a poisoned chalice.
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