| Comment | The bottom line is that the leader of a government's #1 job is creating and holding together a government.
For the SNP, that means holding together all those different factions, including managing the trans-right/GC split and the different independence groups, and be able to e.g. maintain the working alliance with the Greens
Mhairi isn't remotely in the position to do that - maybe at some future point, but she simply hasn't developed the political capital across the party - and maybe never will, as that would almost certainly involve compromising some of her principles
Just on a purely functional basis, party leaders have to either come from the party centre, or to have something up their sleeve that allows them to control the opposing wing. This is why Sturgeon was so good - she controlled the centre well but also had the political nous and strategy to see off e.g. Salmond and Cherry rather than compromise
If Black took over the party the government would fall in days, and I say that as a huge fan of hers |
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