STV Scottish leaders' election debate LIVE: John Swinney, Douglas Ross, Anas Sarwar and Alex Cole Hamilton debate the NHS, economy, North Sea oil and gas, independence and more
Party leaders John Swinney, Douglas Ross, Anas Sarwar and Alex Cole-Hamilton are going up against each other in the Monday night STV debate
Our full analysis of the debate
Read David Bol’s complete analysis of how each of the Scottish party leaders to feature on tonight’s STV performed here
John Swinney's rating in the cross examination
It can’t be any better than a B- for John Swinney.
The questioning under cross-examination exposed too many areas that were difficult for the SNP leader to defend - and Alex Cole-Hamilton nailed home some points on Covid pandemic text messaging, saying ultimately “talk is cheap”.
Swinney did well on sticking to a message on economic credentials and NHS investment - but he was unable to completely dodge the “sleaze and scandal” attacks thrown at him.
Swinney did best up against Anas Sarwar - which was important, given Labour looms as the SNP’s main challenger at this election
Douglas Ross's rating in the cross examination
It’s a B- for Douglas Ross
He chose a calm, deliberate manner to his responses. It may have been a clever strategy - because Anas Sarwar came across as almost overly forceful in his questioning. But Ross didn’t have any firm defence of the decisions taken by Liz Truss, by Suella Braverman, and by ministers under former PM Boris Johnson regarding Covid contracts.
It was interesting that Ross has admitted to some fault within that argument. Will viewers appreciate that honesty - or not? We’re not so sure
Alex Cole-Hamilton's rating in the cross examination
It’s a C+ for the Scottish Lib Dems leader.
His opening exchanges with Anas Sarwar fell a little flat, and were largely forgettable - even if he was trying to make key points on health issues such as dentistry, which has been a key theme of the party’s election message.
Cole-Hamilton also found himself tripping over his own words on his party’s protected marine areas policy announced earlier, on the day of the debate, under questioning from Douglas Ross. In short, he was being bullied - and effectively - by the Scottish Tories leader.
Cole-Hamilton countered well against John Swinney, though, on the Lib Dems pro-European message - and pointed out holes in the SNP’s own position around Scotland one day rejoining Europe.
Mr Swinney was forced to insist in the debate build-up “almost all” EU funds would be spent by SNP ministers amid reports £450 million will have to be returned to Brussels after a failure to allocate the cash to key projects.
Here’s the full report on Swinney’s position here.
We haven't had much on independence at all...
...but here it is, being brought up in a question from Alex Cole-Hamilton directed at Douglas Ross.
Here’s what our deputy political editor David Bol had to say about independence in his pre-analysis:
Independence is the question that just won’t go away in Scotland - but this election could be different.
With the SNP lacking a credible route to separation, the Tories are likely to claim that John Swinney’s party losing the election will signal the end of the constitutional debate “for good”.
Mr Swinney, on the other hand, is likely to stress that independence is the only way to free Scotland from austerity as he criticises Labour’s plans for government.
Labour largely staying out of the constitutional debate has served them well as voters turn their attention to other key issues, but Anas Sarwar will likely repeat his position that he opposes independence and that Scotland does not need a second referendum at this time.
We'll have full analysis coming at the end of this debate...
...courtesy of our deputy political editor David Bol. If you want it all in one place - and to read it just once - his analysis will bring you up to speed on just who won this TV leaders’ debate
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