It’s impossible to write about Humza Yousaf’s first speech to SNP conference without mentioning the hellishness of his last week.

I keep thinking about Amal, his four-year-old asking him if granny will be home for Halloween.

The First Minister told her she would, but as he admitted to Sky News over the weekend: “We honestly don’t know if she will.”

Yesterday we heard that his wife’s young cousin had been injured in an Israeli drone attack.

READ MORE: Yousaf freezes council tax to help with cost-of-living crisis

You’d think, given everything, debating independence and wind turbine planning policy in Aberdeen’s vast, joyless Event Complex is probably the last place he’d wanted to be this week.

But there has been a powerful amount of love for the First Minister and his family from the party faithful here in the North East.

As he made clear in the emotional start to his speech, he has drawn strength from that support.

It’s also impossible to write about his speech without mentioning the party’s drubbing at the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election.

Labour destroyed the SNP in the vote, sparked by the ousting of disgraced former MP Margaret Ferrier in a recall petition.

The party had expected to lose, but the scale of the defeat left them reeling.

According to reports, both parties believe it was the middle class what lost it for the SNP, with those earning between £30,000 to £50,000 a year switched to Anas Sarwar’s party.

When you talk to Labour they say their campaign against planned council tax rises and a suggested congestion charge into Glasgow helped win over those swithering in the South Lanarkshire seat.

It’s something to bear in mind when you think about Mr Yousaf’s billion-pound giveaway at the SNP conference.

We were expecting some big announcements from the First Minister, partly because no other minister had any during the week.

We knew about the £300m for the NHS to tackle Scotland’s waiting list crisis, we knew about the money for domestic abuse survivors, and the cash to redevelop Aberdeen’s Union Street and for Dundee’s Eden project had been briefed in advance to local press.

READ MORE: Humza Yousaf SNP conference speech from Aberdeen in full

But the council tax freeze was a surprise. Not just to delegates but to Cosla and the Scottish Greens too.

Speaking to journalists after the speech, the SNP leader’s spindoctors said Patrick Harvie’s party had been told in advance.

When pressed how far in advance, we learned it was at some point in the morning.

Given that the Bute House Agreement contains a “no surprise” clause, the Greens could justifiably feel a little aggrieved.

But maybe it’s no bad thing, as far as SNP members are concerned, for Mr Yousaf — desperate to shake off a reputation for weak leadership — to show who’s in charge.

The Green tail does not wag the dog when it comes to saving those aspirational voters cash.

At least the SNP special advisers gave the Green special advisers a head-up, even if only briefly.

Cosla was stunned.

“We have just heard the announcement made at the SNP Conference in relation to freezing council tax,” a spokesman said in a statement shortly after Mr Yousaf had walked off stage. “We were unaware of it in advance.”

They even suggested it could be a breach of the Verity House agreement signed between ministers and councillors in June, which includes a commitment to “mutual trust and respect.”

Nevertheless, given that we’re expecting a general election next year, Mr Yousaf and his aides might feel some local authority unhappiness is probably less painful for the SNP than voters having their bills hiked right before they head to the polling station.

But given that town halls are already tightening their belts, there could be some unpalatable decisions for councils when they come to set their budgets at the start of next year.

Mr Yousaf will be happy with the speech. He’ll be happy with the week. So too, for now, are his members.

Will it be enough to reset his leadership after a chaotic seven months?