Nicola Sturgeon arrived this afternoon at the SNP’s conference up in Aberdeen, where she was immediately swarmed by fawning delegates and all the reluctant journalists forced to be there. Insisting she wasn’t “overshadowing” the incumbent First Minister Humza Yousaf – who himself claimed he’s “delighted” his predecessor has shown up – Sturgeon claimed she offered her “full unequivocal support” to the SNP’s new independence strategy, which bins her plan to make the election a ‘de facto’ referendum and instead focuses on trying to actually win seats. She backs this new plan entirely, even though it contradicts the strategy she laid out just months ago…

“I think in those circumstances it was right, and that was my objective that the party took the time to consider the way forward it wanted to adopt. It did that yesterday, it did that unanimously as far as I can see yesterday, and that position has my full unequivocal support… I am no longer the Leader of the SNP. Humza is more than capable of speaking for himself…”

Asked if she was the “Liz Truss of the SNP”, given her arrival has inevitably eclipsed whatever her successor is doing, Sturgeon said “absolutely not“. Truss could only dream of the kind of loving video tribute the SNP just gave Sturgeon in the main conference hall…