[SCOT goes POP!] Does 2 become 1?

[ALBA-Bot]

Does 2 become 1?

First of all, a quick note to let you know that I'm quoted in Alasdair Soussi's profile of John Swinney on the Al Jazeera website, which you can read HERE.  I'm both critical of Swinney and complimentary towards him, so there's something there for everyone!

Secondly, I can't resist taking the bait from Stuart Campbell, because this line is provably absurd: "And the office of Deputy First Minister is ceremonial – it's very much the exception rather than the rule if the DFM ever becomes the actual FM."

In fact, prior to Kate Forbes, there had been five Deputy First Ministers: Jim Wallace, Nicol Stephen, Nicola Sturgeon, John Swinney and Shona Robison.  Two of those (Sturgeon and Swinney) went on to become First Minister, and one (Jim Wallace) had spells as Acting First Minister.  What's more, Wallace and Stephen were not eligible to become First Minister because they were only in government as the leader of the junior coalition party, so of the three Deputies who were able to become First Minister, two actually did so.  That doesn't seem particularly "exceptional" to me.

Source: Does 2 become 1?