The First Minister and "Father of the Nation", Donald Dewar, has cheered Scotland up by making a rapid recovery from his heart operation.
His replacement valve seems to have made a new man of him. For one thing, during his convalescence he has learnt to use a laptop - and those who know what an achievement that is for the man more immersed in the Enlightenment than the 21st century will know that now anything is possible. For another, the rejuvenated 64-year-old seems to be preparing for a marathon. His message on the Scottish Parliament's first anniversary is: "Our first four-year term is like a relay race. The first lap is over and the baton has been passed on for the second leg. I'm looking forward to it already."
But Labour's first-year performance has been less a relay than a school sack race, with the contestants reeling and stumbling from policy debacle to presentation disaster. The school analogy was reinforced when the Scottish Council Foundation, a pro-devolution think-tank with influential connections among new Labour modernisers, in a school report-style assessment, gave the administration a "D" grade.
The foundation's verdict was not quite as scathing as Cardinal Winning's damnatory "an utter failure", but a System Three poll has found that eight out of ten Scots believe the parliament has had no impact on their lives. Scots have not learnt to distinguish between parliament and government - to the parliament's irritation, and especially the opposition's.
"No one in England blames the failures in the NHS on the House of Commons. People rightly blame the government," complained the Scottish Tory David McLetchie. This is rich given that he is the party leader in a parliament that the Tories didn't want, with 18 of his 19 MSPs there through a PR system that the Tories opposed. Yet he has a point. The Scottish National Party leader, Alex Salmond, puts it thus: "The parliament should not fall when the executive stumbles."
In fact, after 12 months, both have a fair amount to their credit. Eight acts have been passed - on feudal tenure, adults with incapacity, the Scottish budget, the census, ethics in public life, dangerous mental patients, public finance and school standards. Another ten are in the legislative pipeline.
So why the poor public image? Graham Leicester, the Scottish Council Foundation's director, blames the Scottish Executive: "Officials copy papers to all ministers to make sure they don't miss anyone, decision-making has slowed down and the machinery of government has clogged up. Routine decisions take weeks. Too many people seem to be wasting too much effort to little effect. The whole system is running on the spot."
Even a few days ago, the Scottish government turned a triumph into a shambles when the announcement of 100 more doctors and 200 specialist nurses coincided with Jack McConnell, the Finance Minister, clawing back a £34m underspend in the Scottish NHS which he gave to the Forestry Commission and Historic Scotland. One minister remarked: "We don't need to worry about the hospitals - you won't see them for the trees." To make matters worse, it was revealed that cancer patients are dying for lack of 12 radiotherapy machines costing £18m. No one, apparently, predicted the public reaction to taking money from patients and spending it on trees and castles.
The hit-or-miss performance has much to do with Dewar's aloof leadership style. He loves the theory but, in practice, he is not a driver. His natural instinct is, as we say in Scotland, to ca' canny. Gesture politics are anathema to him, and photo opportunities are obvious agony. To his credit, but his government's disadvantage, he is obstinately loyal.
All are handicaps for a leader who must now show he is back firmly in charge and getting a grip on an administration with such obvious flaws. The easiest way is to reshuffle his team, removing the first-year flops and promoting new talent.
He will not move his personal favourite, the Communities Minister, Wendy Alexander, or the three "Big Macs" - the Enterprise Minister, Henry McLeish, Jack McConnell, or the Parliament Minister, Tom McCabe. And Susan Deacon, the Health Minister, will be left on her bed of nails.
He cannot sack his Lib Dem Deputy First Minister, Jim Wallace. But should that mean that the Agriculture Minister, Ross Finnie, and the underperforming enterprise deputy, Nicol Stephen, are also untouchable? Others, such as the hapless Transport Minister, Sarah Boyack, the rural affairs and fisheries deputy, John Home Robertson (a fish out of water), and the slow-starting community care deputy, Iain Gray, could be sacrificed in a public signal of a relaunch. The experienced Sam Galbraith could be moved; putting a brain surgeon in charge of education always seemed odd and produced little progress.
The personable Highlands and Islands deputy minister, Alasdair Morrison, has shown he is more than just a pretty face; the former Highland council convener Peter Peacock, although not even a member of the Labour Party until devolution, is a ready-made heavyweight; and Margaret Curran has staked her claim with her feisty and capable chairmanship of the Social Inclusion and Housing Committee.
Dewar's private office is in need of refurbishing. He has not replaced his chief of staff, John Rafferty, sacked for a spin too far, nor his communications expert, Philip Chalmers, who resigned in a drink-and-sex scandal. Whatever their personal failings, Rafferty brought sharpness and co-ordination, and Chalmers brought presentational skill, all of which are now missing.
"There is plenty of scope for dramatic improvement next term," concluded the Scottish Council Foundation. New prefects could make all the difference.
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