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Hello, you're listening to Podlitical BBC Scotland's podcast that gives you an inside look at the biggest stories coming out of Hollywood and Westminster.

It's about half

past 11 on Friday the 31st of July. I'm Phil Sim, a reporter sort of based at the Scottish

Parliament, but currently attempting to go on holiday. And today I am joined by... I'm Lindsay

Views in Edinburgh. And I'm Nick Erdley in Westminster and Matt Cox is in his work from home box

producing today we have reconvened for a bonus episode you'll notice this is not our

normal day because Jackson Carlaw has rather abruptly resigned as the Scottish

Conservative leader the MSP for Eastwood only officially got the job in February but has apparently decided since then that he's not the best person for the job after all.

Or maybe that was decided for him. So let's get into it. Did this come completely out of the blue for you guys?

Because it feels like, I mean, the polls have been looking pretty grim for the Tories and unionists generally, but we're in the middle of recess at Holyrood and indeed a pandemic.

Lindsay, do you think people at Hollywood were expecting this?

In a word, no.

I think on the face of it, yeah, it's come really out of the blue.

I think when you sort of dig a little deeper and you think over, you know,

what's been going on, as you mentioned,

the polling suggesting an increase in support for independence. When you dig a little deeper,

I think perhaps it isn't quite as shocking, but yesterday I was standing at St Andrew's House,

the Scottish Government building, waiting to interview John Swinney, the

deputy, First Minister, and started seeing all of these alerts coming through on Twitter

and got text from someone in the newsroom saying Jackson Carlos just resigned. And yeah,

...