Britain:Queen Elizabeth has formally appointed nationalist leader Alex Salmond as Scotland's first minister, while fellow Scot chancellor of the exchequer Gordon Brown appears on the brink of a "coronation" as Labour leader and prime minister of the United Kingdom.
Nominations for the Labour leadership and deputy leadership contests close this afternoon. However, Mr Brown's only potential challenger - left-wing MP John McDonnell - has not secured the necessary nominations to get his name on the ballot paper. Mr Brown had the declared support of some 308 Labour MPs, and Mr McDonnell had the backing of only 29 MPs.
Meanwhile, Britain's intriguing constitutional vista opened up further yesterday after Mr Salmond defeated Labour's outgoing first minister Jack McConnell in a historic vote in the newly elected Scottish parliament. Two Green MSPs backed the SNP leader, giving him 49 votes to Mr McConnell's 46, while the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats abstained.
Last night Mr Salmond set about forming his minority administration, committing his leadership "wholly and exclusively to the Scottish national interest".
But while he repeated his party's commitment to eventual "independence and equality" for Scotland, Mr McConnell warned that the outcome of the Scottish election - in which the SNP won a one-seat majority over Labour - had severely restricted Mr Salmond's capacity for confrontation with Westminster.
Mr Salmond will score another historic first next week, when Queen Elizabeth receives him in his new role in an audience in Scotland. But while he has declared his desire to work constructively with Mr Brown, the personal and political tensions between the two will add a fascinating dimension to Britain's fast-changing political landscape.
Amid some speculation that Mr Brown as prime minister might invite opposition parties to join some form of constitutional convention, Mr Salmond claimed yesterday there was already "broad consensus" among the Holyrood parties in favour of assuming "greater responsibility for the governance of Scotland".
Addressing MSPs after his election, Mr Salmond said that despite the closeness of the election result Scotland was not a divided nation. On issues like the economy, the environment and the gap between rich and poor, he suggested, there was unity: "We have a sense of ourselves, a sense of community, a sense above all of the common weal of Scotland."
And, in an apparent nod to Lib Dem support for increased powers for Holyrood, the first minister continued: "In some ways, we are not even a divided parliament."
There was a real understanding "that we are engaged in a process of self-government", he said, adding: "All of us in this parliament have a responsibility to conduct ourselves in a way that respects the parliament the people have chosen to elect."
Mr McConnell said Labour would not oppose the new minority administration for its own sake, while delivering a warning to his successor.
"Voltaire once said that governments need both shepherds and butchers and I think Alex may need to be more of a shepherd than a butcher in his new role, looking around his flock here and trying to secure majorities for his policies," he said.
Mr Salmond said he would seek support "policy by policy" across the chamber and acknowledged in this century there were limits to what governments could achieve.
In Wales, meanwhile, Plaid Cymru leader Wyn Jones said he would decide within a week whether to side with Labour in the Welsh Assembly or to pursue his own attempt to become first minister. Labour leader Rhodri Morgan is seeking backing from Plaid and the Liberal Democrats after Labour won just 26 of the assembly's 60 seats.