It’s been blethered about amongst the chattering classes rather a lot over the last few weeks, has Alex Salmond’s future.
What will the First Minister do when he becomes the former First Minister? Surely he won’t be content to sit on the back benches of Holyrood. Surely Nicola Sturgeon won’t want him there, like an overbearing shadow, as she tries to get on with running the country.
I believe the original rumour started at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham. Where else would it be conceived?
Essentially a few people with a pretty good reading of the political scene got together and decided Westminster made sense for Salmond.
They’re right. It does in many respects. It’s just quite telling that, until his appearance on Question Time, there had been no indication from anyone remotely close to the current SNP leader the possibility was being considered.
Indeed, some of his closest aides told me recently they had been given no indication he is planning a political return south.
But then the words arrived: “Absolutely decisively I can tell you I haven’t made up my mind. So you’ll have to wait and see.”
It’s enough for another feeding frenzy. However, there are big decisions to be made. Would he stay on as an MSP? It can, and has, been done but there is a tricky circle to be squared when it comes to constituencies.
He could not stand in his old seat of Banff and Buchan for that is held by the SNP’s Eilidh Whiteford.
So, goes the common consensus, he will stand in neighbouring Gordon which handily takes in some of his Aberdeenshire East Holyrood patch.
Sir Malcom Bruce’s retirement will take a swathe of votes away from the Liberal Democrats, who are already collapsing in the polls, and seal the deal, apparently.
There’s no doubt Salmond would be a massive personal draw were he to stand in Gordon. Indeed, I reckon he would be favourite for the seat.
But and this is a reasonably big but, I cannot lie the Lib Dem majority is a not unsubstantial 6,748. That is enough to make failure become an option in the head of even the most incredibly confident man.
It has been said Salmond very much enjoyed his time in the House of Commons and it would certainly make sense for him to be up close and personal with the main UK leaders to “hold their feet to the fire”.
Spending more time in London would also bring him closer to the headquarters of quite a few major firms, should he fancy a consultancy role somewhere.
The big question is: Will he stand for the UK Parliament? The genuine answer of anyone except, and perhaps including, the man himself is: I don’t know.
Holyrood is in recess and things are pretty quiet, though. There are plenty of fun theories to be had.