Incoming Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faces a massive task in trying to impress Scottish voters appalled by the Tory soap opera of the last few months.
On the plus side, as the Chancellor who delivered furlough and other pandemic support packages, Sunak can be viewed as competent and professional.
He was also vindicated in his takedown of Trussonomics, with his warning that unfunded tax cuts would lead to higher interest rates proving correct.
But the positives end there.
Sunak, like no Prime Minister in living memory, is at the mercy of economic events largely outwith his control.
Inflation is running at a level Scots have not seen in decades. Mortgage bills are also soaring for homeowners as fixed rates expire
The energy price guarantee will also expire in April, fuelling anxiety in the months leading up to its abolition and pushing more people into poverty.
Governments can survive many things. Falling living standards is not one of them.
Not only will Sunak’s government be blamed for people being worse off financially, but there is no single action he can take to tame inflation or stop mortgage repayments going up.
The Age of Sunak will be the era of economic decline.
The best he can hope for is not making the situation worse - hardly a platform for electoral success.
His family’s vast riches, and the inevitable scrutiny they will invite, will put further distance between him and the average voter. The fact he shared Downing Street with Boris Johnson for so long is another minus.
The question for Scottish politics is: who will benefit from the Tory meltdown?
The SNP have reaped the electoral rewards for the past twelve years as a result of Conservative rule.
Despite struggling badly on domestic policy, the Salmond and Sturgeon governments inevitably look better by comparison.
But the latest opinion polls show Scottish Labour, not the SNP, standing to benefit, with Anas Sarwar’s party hovering on around 30pc.
For a party that slumped to fifth place at the last European election to be so resurgent shows there is something in the water.
One interpretation is that an increasing number of voters will use the next general election as a referendum on the Tories, not independence.
Relatedly, Sunak’s effective coronation will not shift the dial on whether there will be a second referendum.
As with Liz Truss and Boris Johnson, Sunak has a shaky grasp of Scottish politics and will not agree to indyref2 under any circumstances.
The economy, not the constitution, will dominate Sunak’s time as Prime Minister.
The Richmond MP, despite his obvious intelligence, looks like being a fag end PM leading a loathed party into defeat.
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