Unless something radical happens, the SNP’s unhealthy dominance seems over already

It’s usually a discouraging sign if a political leader finds it necessary to confirm that the political party they are supposed to be in charge of isn’t operating as a criminal enterprise. Or, in the case of the first minister of Scotland, stating that “I don’t believe it is”.

Given that the Scottish National Party’s treasurer, Colin Beattie, was sitting in a police station under arrest at the time of Humza Yousaf’s impromptu press conference, that hint of caution was probably wise. Mr Beattie’s arrest follows soon after the arrest of the SNP’s former chief executive, Peter Murrell, husband to the former party leader Nicola Sturgeon, and a series of embarrassing resignations and disclosures about missing monies and members.

While the SNP no doubt numbers among its elected and unelected officials many individuals dedicated to public service, some of those at the top do have, literally, questions to answer about the party’s finances, management and the exact status of a £110,000 luxury motorhome confiscated from Nicola Sturgeon’s home by Police Scotland. It doesn’t feel like an organisation well-equipped to lead the nation out of the UK and to negotiate its way into the EU.

A master of understatement, if nothing else, Mr Yousaf conceded that the latest arrest is “certainly not helpful” on the day he sought to “articulate my vision” and present his priorities to the Scottish parliament. As Alex Salmond, another former SNP leader who has had his share of travails, said, Mr Yousaf found himself “torpedoed” by the latest developments.

Perhaps, given the loud noises, with no one paying much attention to policy, it is just as well that Mr Yousaf had relatively little new to tell the MSPs. He was, after all, the “continuity candidate” in the recent leadership election, and his policies will carry on where Ms Sturgeon left off. Mr Yousaf has yet to formulate his approach to securing a second referendum on independence and secession from the UK because it has in any case been delegated to a forthcoming special SNP conference.

The meeting will have a certain theoretical feel to it: independence feels further away than ever, given that the SNP seems to be having a breakdown.

Mr Yousaf certainly does face urgent and formidable challenges as first minister, such as the state of hospitals and schools, the public finances, an ill-considered bottle recycling scheme, rising drug abuse and a farcical scheme to build new ferries for the islands. He will also have to decide what he wants to do with the troublesome Gender Recognition Reform Act, presently denied royal assent and in limbo. Inevitably, however, he will now have to devote too much time and political capital on dealing with a party seemingly running out of money, members and political credibility at an alarming rate.

Even if it avoids bankruptcy, and party officials insist it is “solvent”, it will still need to satisfy the Electoral Commission, and the police, that it is being run in accordance with electoral and other laws. This can surely no longer be considered a formality.

It is difficult for Mr Yousaf, a loyal colleague of Ms Sturgeon, to denounce her time in office, let alone suspend her or her husband from the party. Yet he does need to act swiftly and decisively if the SNP is not to sink lower. Of such action there is little sign. He has, for now, decided to retain the arrested Mr Beattie as treasurer on the principle of “innocent until proven guilty”. By that same token, Mr Beattie will also remain a member of the public audit committee of the Scottish parliament.

Many political leaders before Mr Yousaf have fallen into this trap, of attempting to rescue stricken colleagues out of a misplaced sense of loyalty and fair play. Political judgements do not have to conform to legal standards, and politics is a roughhouse trade. Mr Beattie’s position is obviously untenable, and Ms Sturgeon’s is becoming so. The fact that, only a matter of weeks ago, she was being likened, variously, to Margaret Thatcher, Angela Merkel and Jacinda Ardern makes her fall from grace seem incredible, but the police tents erected around her home confirms that it is very real indeed.

It is plainly in the interests of the SNP, and Mr Yousaf as its new leader, to put as much distance as possible between the new leadership and the mistakes of the past, and that means making some tough and unpleasant decisions about a popular, if not revered, former leader. In fact, that is precisely the kind of ruthlessness that Ms Sturgeon displayed when the moment came to dispatch Mr Salmond. Mr Yousaf is being far too fastidious to do what is necessary with his predecessor. As a result he looks weak and a prisoner of the past. He is part of the problem, not the solution.

Unless something radical happens, the SNP’s unhealthy hegemony seems over already. It will lose support and Westminster seats at the next general election, and will surely also slip back at the Holyrood elections in 2026. It could easily lose office, because the saga of the SNP’s mismanagement is only just beginning, and will take a long time to unfold. Mr Yousaf cannot turn it around if he doesn’t even acknowledge there’s a problem here.

The principal beneficiary of this sudden reversal in the SNP’s fortunes will be the Labour Party, and it may not be long before it starts to look like a serious challenger for power in Scotland for the first time in more than a decade. Competitive politics is good for democracy, and Scotland has been deprived of it for too long. Mr Yousaf has a tough few years ahead of him, but at least he’s not been arrested.