[5] By 2017 circulation had fallen to 18,387 and in August 2018 staff were told they would now be expected to work on the Herald too, with the potential for the two titles to be combined at some point in the future.

Jaspan assembled a launch team including former Hue & Cry singer Pat Kane, TV producer and presenter Muriel Gray and BBC political commentator Iain Macwhirter and designer Simon Cunningham.

Other former BBC television and radio journalists who joined the title included Lesley Riddoch, Torcuil Crichton and Pennie Taylor.

A number of former Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday staff also joined the new paper, as did several journalists from The Big Issue's Scottish edition including Neil Mackay, David Milne and Iain S Bruce.

It also won a raft of awards for its journalism, design and photography, in the UK and internationally, and secured the former archbishop Richard Holloway and On the Waterfront scriptwriter Budd Schulberg as regular contributors.

Its web version gained a large readership in the United States because of its consistent anti-George W. Bush and anti-Iraq War line.

[citation needed] The campaign proved successful, with even the Financial Times questioning whether it was right for the Barclays to have a monopoly of quality papers published in Scotland.

Walker, a former production journalist on both the Daily Record and Scotland on Sunday had been with the title since its launch and had served as deputy to Jaspan for five years.

Hutcheon made use of the Scottish Freedom of Information Act to establish his case, which ultimately led to McLetchie resigning both as Conservative leader and as a partner in Edinburgh law firm Tods Murray.