In a 2014 referendum, Scots voted by 55 per cent to 45 per cent to remain in the United Kingdom, but since then the situation has changed because of Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The investigation’s report is not due to be released until Tuesday.

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In the 2016 referendum on membership of the European Union, Scots voted to remain in the bloc while the UK as a whole voted to leave. This strengthened the SNP’s hand and the party has since enjoyed wide margins of victory in Scottish elections.

In the early months of the pandemic, Sturgeon was seen by most Scots as having handled the situation well, in sharp contrast to Johnson whose response was widely criticised, further widening her apparently impregnable poll lead.

The Salmond drama, which had been bubbling in the background since 2018 but boiled over after his own explosive testimony to the parliamentary committee on February 26, could not only drive Sturgeon out of her job but do lasting damage to the SNP.

Salmond, who stood trial on charges of sexual assault and was acquitted in 2020, has portrayed himself as the victim of a conspiracy to drive him out of public life. Sturgeon has rejected that as absurd.

In her lengthy testimony on March 3, she told the parliamentary committee that she had not offered to intervene in the Scottish government’s handling of complaints made against Salmond by several women.

“Taking account of the competing versions of the event, the committee believes that she did in fact leave Alex Salmond with the impression that she would, if necessary, intervene,” the Sky report quoted the committee as saying in its conclusions.

“She has misled the committee on this matter. This is a potential breach of the ministerial code,” the committee said, according to the Sky report. Such a breach would normally lead to a resignation.