Sturgeon ‘never wanted to get Alex Salmond’

It was billed as the fight of her life: Nicola Sturgeon, accused by her predecessor Alex Salmond of being part of a conspiracy against him.

Conservatives had called for her to resign even before she’d given evidence to the inquiry into the Scottish government’s handling of harassment allegations against Mr Salmond.

At stake, not just her job and many others in the Scottish government, but the future of the SNP and the independence movement.

She began at 9.00 this morning and only finished more than eight hours later as opposition MSPs tried and tried to land a damaging blow.