The candidates to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as SNP leader - Humza Yousaf, Kate Forbes and Ash Regan - knew how high the stakes were in the first live TV debate.
With the winner also set to become First Minister, crashing and burning on prime time would be career-destroying:
As one senior SNP source said: “You could lose Bute House with one slip up.”
Forbes, trailing in the polls behind bookies’ favourite Yousaf, went for the jugular in her cross-examination of her rival.
She tore into his performance in every major post he has held.
"You've had a number of jobs in government," she said. "When you were a transport minister, the trains were never on time. When you were justice minister the police were strained to breaking point and now as health minister, we've got record-high waiting times."
A defensive Yousaf, playing on Forbes’ social conservatism, said she would preside over a “lurch to the right” and implied the Finance Secretary lacked experience:
“I know you haven’t had a public service delivery job.”
When it was his turn, Yousaf accused Forbes of wanting to “cave in” to the UK Government by not challenging them over the blocking of gender recognition legislation.
He also claimed her opposition to same sex marriage would result in the independence side losing votes. He was playing to her key weakness - LGBT rights.
Regan also turned on Forbes, accusing her of backing “trickle down economics” and painting her as Conservative.
The spats, which also covered the party’s drift on independence, turned a tense contest into an ugly battle. How either Yousaf or Forbes can work together in government again is unclear.
The SNP’s strength over the last two decades has been unity. That ended in the STV studio last night.
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