This morning’s shock news that Nicola Sturgeon is stepping down as the Scottish first minister and leader of the SNP inevitably reduces what chances there were of an early second independence referendum.

The move also makes it a bit easier for Scottish labour in a UK general election. It will be recalled how Scottish politics was totally changed by the initial independence referendum in September 2014. At the 2010 General Election LAB managed to secure 41 of Scotland’s 59 seats. At the following General Election this was reduced to a single Scottish Labour MP.

The analysis of many over the years has been that without Scotland Labour would struggle to secure a majority at Westminster.

My guess is that it will now be a bit easier for Labour to win back some of the seats that were lost in 2015. This could help pushing Starmer’s party over the 326 Westminster MP threshold required for an overall majority.

Mike Smithson