There is no shortage of noise in contemporary politics, nor of people keen to confuse it with authority. Jeane Freeman, the former Scottish health minister who passed away this weekend, never did. She moved through political life with the calm confidence of someone who was always three steps ahead of any room she was in and entirely comfortable letting others catch up. This is not, however, to be confused with arrogance, of which she displayed not a hint.

I came to know Jeane a little over the last few years, meeting every so often for coffee or lunch. I can’t claim we were close friends, but I always enjoyed those catch-ups. They were fun, full of gossip and the sort of dark humour that comes naturally to people who have spent too long watching their own party eat itself. But they were also bracing. I always left having learned something or, at the very least, having had a few assumptions quietly dismantled.

Away from the spotlight, Jeane was warm, dryly funny and generous with her time

One moment from those conversations has stuck with me. We were having coffee in my then constituency in early 2024. The party was in a mess on several fronts, and I knew I was struggling locally. I was talking it through at some length and circling the issues in a way that politicians often........

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