Put aside political alignment for a moment, if you can.

This is great leadership.

@NicolaSturgeon talking honestly and openly about coping and mental health. https://twitter.com/heartscotnews/status/1253041542698283010

Now you can say “Steve, you would say that. You’re an SNP member”, and that’s fair. I am, and Idmire NS a great deal. I wouldn’t have joined her party if I didn’t.

But that’s not the point here.
2/

The point is that I’m also a depression sufferer who’s spent 21 days without leaving this room, and who in that time has been scared out of my wits for myself, my family, and my distant family and friends.

This gave me some comfort.
3/

The point is that we don’t need our leaders to be pretend super-heroes. We need them to be (very competent and smart) humans, who can understand and empathise with the rest of us.
4/

It’s not a weakness that people have meltdowns when they feel everything is too much. It’s normal, and talking about it is a strength as it means that others (like me) who’ve had the same experience feel less anxious or like we’re weird and screwed up.
5/

This crisis has surely shown the vapidity of both the carefully crafted, plays-well-in-focus-groups, comms-expert drafted script soundbite, and the idea of a “great man” who’s strength of character alone is enough.
6/

Neither gets us through this at a policy or individual level. Both muddy the waters, alienate us, breakdown trust, and cause more anxiety and worry than we were already facing.
7/

Hopefully, both will be less in evidence in the new world we face after this all. But that’s ultimately up to electorates.

Mencken’s aphorism is right “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.”
8/8