Stephen Flynn could be a future First Minister, and looks more appealing to SNP members by the day

Another quiet week for the party of government in Scotland.

Stephen Flynn is an ambitious MP who is very effective at his job, but, in a way, it doesn’t really matter.

The SNP Westminster leader is a tenacious performer, and has earned the respect of his political opponents. Every week at PMQs, he stands up with his arms behind his back, like a Scottish Liam Gallagher with less swearing, and manages to attack both Labour and the Tories without the question turning into a sermon. Considering some of the sermons I’ve had to listen to over the years, that is no mean feat.

He’s also managed to maintain some semblance of party unity, despite the move against Ian Blackford. Mr Flynn insisted he only went for the job when there was a vacancy, something Blackford allies furiously disagreed with. But in politics, a game full of grudges, Flynn’s performances were enough to keep them quiet.

Could the SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn replace Humza Yousaf?

There have also been canny moves with procedure, whether trapping Labour with votes on Israel, or walking out so Sir Keir Starmer’s statements seems less important. As a leader, he’s delivered anger, compassion, and no obvious blunders. In Westminster, the home of sex scandals and illegal parties, this is a rarity.

But despite all of this, the polling for the SNP remains in freefall, with independence voters deciding they really want independence, but no longer trust Humza Yousaf’s party to deliver it.

This follows no shortage of scandal and incompetence. There’s been the arrest of Nicola Sturgeon, there’s been the arrest of Peter Murrell, there’s been the second arrest of Peter Murrell. There’s been the ferry crisis, Gender Recognition Reform, the Hate Crime bill, there’s always been something that either hasn’t landed, or was completely dead on arrival.

Speaking of Humza’s leadership, he certainly hasn’t helped matters. This week he told journalists how much he loved working with the Scottish Greens, how excited he was to keep doing it, then kicked them to the curb before they could walk away. You can’t fire me, I quit.

All of this leaves the SNP Westminster group plodding along, doing quite well, but not making breakthroughs in polling because the Scottish Government are setting up disasters. Mr Yousaf’s premiership has been a time of constant chaos, the equivalent of Sideshow Bob being hit in the face with a rake, only to turn and hit another.He now faces a no-confidence vote, entirely of his own making, where he’ll rely on Ash Regan, who he once described as “no loss” to the party.

So now the question is raised, could Mr Flynn replace the First Minister? Some SNP figures certainly think so, and it’s a smart move. If the polls are replicated in the general election, he could face not having a question every week at PMQs. On the upside, by the time the Holyrood vote comes around, he also probably won’t have an SNP Government to clean up after.

Mr Flynn is very talented, obviously ambitious, and if things stay on their current trajectory, there may soon be a vacancy at the top of the SNP.

He’d perhaps have to jump parliament to get there, but that’s sort of what independence is about. Besides, it can’t go worse than the last guy.