Good week - Nigel Farage

In Westminster terms, Nigel Farage is a serial loser. This will be the eighth time he has sought a seat on the green benches of the Commons.

Not a great record. Even Dundee United contrived to triumph in a Scottish Cup final at the seventh attempt.

And yet. Mr Farage continues to entice intense interest on the Right of politics. This week Suella Braverman proposed a political pact. Nothing doing, said the bold Nigel.

Rather, he said she should join his gang – after Rishi Sunak slumped to inevitable defeat. Indeed, he claimed Reform led the Tories – except in London and Scotland. We shall see.

Bad Week - Douglas Ross

 My favourite political analyst is Lewis Carroll. In Alice in Wonderland, the Queen of Hearts suggests a trial should proceed thus: “sentence first, verdict afterwards.”

It would appear Douglas Ross is also a Carroll fan. This week, he sentenced himself. Before a vote is cast. It was: exile from the Scottish Conservative leadership – and from the Scottish Parliament. But only if he wins the Westminster seat he is now contesting, to the exasperation of his colleagues.

Still, onwards and upwards. He convened a news event outside an Edinburgh theatre, only to compete with a noisy refuse lorry.

When it rains, eh? Just ask the Prime Minister.