Courteous, technocratic and perhaps a little more reserved than his predecessors, Rishi Sunak will almost certainly enjoy a more civilised if not cordial relationship with the first minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon. The Highlands setting may provide some inspiration, too (though the teetotal Sunak won’t be taking a dram). The omens are relatively good. They can do business with one another.
The pair both prefer facts to rhetoric, rarely lapse into Latin, and are well-mannered. It’s not a political marriage made in heaven, or even Gretna Green, but it’s bound to be a little more constructive. Boris Johnson privately loathed Sturgeon – “that bloody wee Jimmy Krankie woman” he’s reported to have called her – and she hated the way he abused his position, most damagingly over Partygate.
Liz Truss famously declared in her leadership campaign she would ignore the “attention seeker” Sturgeon, which went down well with her overwhelmingly southern English party membership but was a needlessly offensive snub to a supposed equal partner in the union. Scots Tories, somewhat beleaguered, must have winced at this stereotypical English arrogance. Truss couldn’t even be bothered to call Sturgeon and only bumped into her once, at a memorial service for the Queen. She won’t be missed in Bute House.
