FMQs sketch: Humza Yousaf puts Douglas Ross in his place with exit door looming

For the first time in a long while, SNP MSPs were united behind him. How he could have done with their support over the past couple of disastrous weeks and, arguably, months. Maybe his troops had been listening intently to the de-facto new boss John Swinney’s pitch for unity – but all MSPs clapped at the right bits, groaned in unison at Lorna Slater and momentarily had Mr Yousaf’s back.

Mr Swinney and Kate Forbes were absent – all attention was on the FM. The first and biggest round of applause from the SNP was for Mr Ross, who repeated Mr Swinney’s “uniting for independence” slogan. They were all in this together.

Mr Yousaf, probably knowing this was his last attempt to hammer the Tories, did exactly that.

Responding to accusations over his own record in government, the FM pondered “did I get everything right?” Then, wearing a wry smile, added “absolutely not – that is very evident and clear”.

Mr Yousaf then went for it and almost shouting, rattled off polices tied to the Tory government’s “abysmal record”. Then the Tory leader made the fatal mistake of bringing up popularity – a bold choice at the best of times for Mr Ross. Mr Yousaf was beaming, insisting that whoever replaces him will be “more popular than Douglas Ross”.

It was then time to get personal with the Scottish Tory leader’s own record. The FM reminded us that Mr Ross “served in Boris Johnson’s government" and went on to "support Liz Truss to the hilt”. He then listed half a dozen shamed Tory MPs and pointing at the sheepish Tory leader, warning he was looking “more and more embarrassed” by the second.

Mr Ross had a back-up and a prop as he held up the “humiliating letter” Mr Yousaf sent him last Friday, asking for Conservative support in a desperate attempt to save his job. “He literally was begging us to save his job,” laughed Mr Ross.

He made another attempt to throw scorn on Mr Swinney’s government record, asking “is this really the best the SNP can do?” As blind as Mr Ross was to Mr Swinney’s achievements, Mr Yousaf ignored all his bad bits.

The FM wanted a final dig at Mr Ross, highlighting his voting record against higher taxes on banks, against better support for veterans and against climate change measures.

Tory motormouth MSP Stephen Kerr had seen enough, bellowing “nonsense” and “rubbish” from the back benches.

But the FM was lapping it up. “They’re getting worked up … he can’t hide from the truth”, he proudly claimed. As the presiding officer called for calm, Mr Yousaf gleefully mumbled “I’ve got them now”. But all this has come far too late for the outgoing First Minister.

If this was to be Mr Yousaf’s final act, he attacked with the confidence and bite that has been desperately missing from his difficult 13 months in office.