Eddie Barnes: Reshuffle readies big names for showtime

DAVID Cameron used his reshuffle to push to the right. Alex Salmond has used his to prepare for a fight.

Last week, the First Minister’s key communications adviser Kevin Pringle left the Scottish Government to head up strategy at the SNP. Yesterday, Nicola Sturgeon was freed from worrying about the burdens of the NHS to spearhead the referendum campaign from inside government.

Ms Sturgeon still has to keep an eye on infrastructure as part of her cobbled-together portfolio. But Mr Salmond is clearing the path so that his key people are focused on the referendum campaign.

Putting Ms Sturgeon in this central role has its advantages. She is one of the few SNP figures who passes the “Question Time” test, able to get the constitutional message across to a wider audience. Crucially, as a woman, she may be able to appeal to female voters who, at present, are overwhelmingly turned off by independence.

But the danger is that the move exposes the SNP to the charge that they are putting the business of running the country to one side in favour of a political punch-up over the independence campaign.

Despite being the sole obsession of Scotland’s political classes, the constitution remains well below the NHS on a list of peoples’ priorities. The SNP did not win last year because people wanted ministers to campaign for independence. It puts the onus on Mr Salmond and his team of experienced ministers such as John Swinney, Kenny MacAskill and Alex Neil to show that in going out and searching for new custom, they are not ignoring the shop.

Mr Neil’s promotion as Health Secretary, just a few years after he was persona non grata within the SNP high command, is a remarkable turnaround and reward for having proven himself in the job as Infrastructure Minister.