These questions – and many more – are debated by The Scotsman’s politics team on a special episode of political podcast The Steamie.
The team, led by deputy political editor Conor Matchett and featuring Westminster correspondent Alexander Brown and politics correspondent Hannah Brown, analyse the fallout from Thursday’s local election results.
The Scotsman’s team give their verdict on each party’s performance.
Nicola Sturgeon had said in the wake of the election the SNP, which saw all the key metrics increase and the party take control of Dundee, was “astonishing” and a “brutal rejection” of the Prime Minister.
And Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar described the vote return as "a good day, we’ve made good progress” after his party climbed over the Scottish Tories and into second place nationally.
You can check out the latest episode of The Steamie wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.