What a week! It's difficult to know where to begin. Minutes after the referendum result became clear, the Prime Minister announced a set of huge constitutional reforms which prompted confusion over the Labour position on English devolution before they'd really begun to celebrate securing Scotland's place in the UK. Never to be outdone, First Minister Alex Salmond announced an emotional departure from his office, but not his seat. And that was just Friday.
Gordon Brown, whose public rehabilitation was one of the referendum's success stories, weighed in on Saturday morning with a speech appealing for unity and reiterating an incredibly demanding timetable for legislation for more powers. The draft regulations on a statutory register of lobbyists may have a longer public consultation period than the Commission on Scottish Devolution being led by Lord Smith of Kelvin.
Lord Smith is now the most in-demand man in Scotland, as politicians, organisations and individuals jostle to get in front of him to set out their visions for further devolution.
Note that's further devolution - Devo Max may be snappy shorthand but in Scotland means full fiscal autonomy – devolution of all taxes to Holyrood with a service charge paid to the UK for defence, foreign affairs and other shared services. That's far from what is on anyone's table at the moment and at this stage seems unlikely to pass.
Holyrood continued to be dominated by the referendum with two days of debate on the result, however in the coffee lounges the chatter was of the First Minister's stinging rebuke via a letter to The Herald's editor on a profile of him by commentator David Torrance. As Alex Salmond acknowledge he'll now have more time to read the papers, but we expect him to be doing much more than writing letters as a backbench MSP in the coming months.
Nicola Sturgeon's SNP leadership bid was launched on Wednesday but her dominance within the party suggest an opponent for the ballot is unlikely, so attention shifted to the genuine contest to succeed her as deputy. Transport Minister Keith Brown MSP's service as a Royal Marine is a gift to headline writers, but we can expect a clean fight between him and Treasury spokesman Stewart Hosie MP. The victors will be announced at SNP conference in November which takes on a significantly different value for public affairs professionals - with a leadership ballot and fewer than five months until a GE, how much opportunity will there be for policy debate?
The SNP majority in Holyrood fell to a single seat as list MSP John Wilson resigned from the party over its position on NATO membership. No sign of any other departures yet though.
We're getting mixed messages on the prospects of another referendum: from Alex Salmond hinting at a form of UDI, debate over the definition of "in a generation" and whether a new FM means new rules, to whether a vote to leave the EU in 2017 would trigger another indyref. Ultimately it's for the electorate – if they wish a further plebiscite they need to return a majority of independence-minded MSPs (not just the SNP) to Holyrood in 2016.
There's no vacancy for leader of Labour in Scotland, but that hasn't stopped the speculation over Johann Lamont's position. Despite being on the winning side, and the galvanisation of Scottish Labour in the latter stages, she may end up being a loser as momentum for Jim Murphy mounts. The SNP showed in 2004 it’s possible to be led from Westminster with an able deputy in Holyrood, but is Labour prepared to learn a lesson from that particular tutor?
Public affairs professionals worked hard and performed well in the run up to the referendum, although the reality is that those briefing papers and lines to take under a Yes vote won't see the light of day. The post-referendum analysis has been interesting to follow – is there any such thing as business as usual now with further devolution displacing independence as the dominant theme? There has been much good analysis from Scotland-based practitioners and eyebrows raised at some Westminster interpretations. What is clear is that the focus is now the 2015 General Election and everything from now on is viewed through that lens.
One parting thought – if we do end up in a federal UK, does that means we need to re-consider the public affairs operating models we currently use?
What a week indeed!