Following The Leader

The contest for leader of the SNP and Scotland's new First Minister takes up the majority of this week's podcast.We try and make sense of the early exchanges and suss out what the key issues will be in the campaign. At this stage much of the focus has been on the candidates' positions on social issues such as equal marriage and the GRR. We wonder at what point this might shift to the economy and the path to Scottish independence.Meanwhile there's been mucho speculation in the mainstream media that Nicola Sturgeon's resignation and apparent fault lines in the  SNP emphasised by the leadership election provides an ideal opportunity for Labour to exploit. Our reaction? Aye,right.Back at Westminster Rishi Sunak's plan to reveal an agreement on the Northern Ireland Protocol impasse looks like its been derailed by an unholy alliance between the DUP and,more importantly, by the ERG. Is there any way out for an increasingly beleagured PM?Just to say @ScotNational has found some people voted many times in their online poll about SNP leadership candidates - mentioned in this podcast - so not sure results are meaningful. ★ Support this podcast ★