After SNP defeats in Edinburgh by-elections, what will happen at next year's council elections?
Boost for Labour and Greens as they take seats from Nationalists
Last week's two by-election defeats were a blow to the SNP in Edinburgh, especially with council elections just eight months away.
And the results were a boost for both Labour, currently running the city as a minority administration, and the SNP, who claim they could be in charge after next May's elections.
Labour had a disappointing result in this year's Holyrood elections, but with Andy Burnham now in Number Ten the party is now doing better in the polls and their victory in Southside/Newington ward gives them reason for optimism.
The Greens had hoped they would win Southside/Newington, but instead their triumph came in Portobello/Craigmillar, where their frequent allies the SNP had been tipped to hold on.
So who could be forming the next administration at the City Chambers? The SNP is currently the biggest group on the council, but now reduced from 17 to 15, just one more than the Lib Dems on 14. Labour and the Greens each have 12 and the Conservatives 10.
An SNP-Green coalition has been on the cards before, but if the Green surge continues, insiders are asking if might end up as a Green-SNP partnership. SNP group leader has spoken of the common ground between the two parties, but also said she would reach out to other groups.
Labour will also be aiming to form the administration - and whereas in 2022 the party's former Scottish leader Anas Sarwar scuppered any chance of renewing Edinburgh’s Labour-SNP deal with his ban on coalitions, a new leader may well take a different view.
A Labour insider says: "It's too early to say what the make-up of any future coalition might be, but it's good that the mood music from Labour centrally is that the no-coalition handcuffs look likely to be removed."
Despite being the second largest group, the Lib Dems have made no attempt to oust the minority Labour administration, preferring to influence events from opposition, but that could change.
The Conservative vote in the two by-elections was dramatically down and there was little sign of a major Reform UK breakthrough.
But with a voting system which makes it almost impossible for anyone to get an overall majority, everything will depend on the numbers.