Nothing’s sad until it’s over, and then everything is,” actor Peter Capaldi, our talented fellow Glaswegian, contemplated in his brilliant portrayal of the twelfth Dr Who, facing up to the fact that nothing would be the same anymore.

It would be fair to say over the past week I’ve done some reflecting of my own.

There have been feelings of disappointment at the way that the Bute House Agreement, and the progressive pro-independence majority government that it formed, needlessly collapsed.

But there’s also a new sense of being energised, if not regenerated, by looking to the future and the work still to be done.

I deeply regret that we won’t have the opportunity that we had to deliver action on climate, fairness and equality. I worry that urgently needed policies may be watered down or delayed now, on things like rent control, tackling inequality, or cutting fossil fuel use.

For the Greens, I don’t think anything will dent our determination and commitment to build on the many things we have achieved, and to do more. That goes for our team in Parliament, for our MSPs and Councillors working in our communities, and for our members and campaigners around the country.

The evidence is all around us. From the busy new cycleways that weave across our city, to the morning commuters no longer paying peak rail fares, to the young people I see making use of free bus travel.

My first – and as it turned out my only – piece of Government legislation achieved a rent freeze and protection against evictions during the worst of the cost of living crisis, a precursor for the Housing Bill which was laid before parliament only a few weeks ago.

That’s a piece of legislation which, for people here in Glasgow and beyond, remains critically important. I’m determined to defend it against any attempts to undermine it.

On rents, on housing quality, on making sure people are secure in their homes. For the right to decorate, put up pictures, keep a pet and make a house into a home.

Driving down energy bills and emissions too, thanks to the Heat in Buildings Bill which is also urgently needed. For far too many years, we’ve seen no action to cut emissions from the way we heat our homes, and if we get this right we’ll see Glasgow and other places utterly transformed for the better.

We know there will be vested interests determined to water it down, but this is one of the few parts of climate policy the Scottish Government has been getting right in recent years.

It’s still not completely certain that John Swinney won’t face an election for the SNP leadership, but whether he or anyone else becomes First Minister, the Scottish Greens leaving government mustn’t be an excuse to slow down on any of the essential work that was already in motion.

These are turbulent political times. But the choices over the coming weeks will be critical for our climate, our city and our society too.

Over the last week, the most common question has been who will be the next First Minister. But the real

question is what kind of Government will Scotland have, and will it take the actions necessary?

If the Government is ready to do what’s needed to ramp up action on climate and nature, on equality, and tackling the cost of living, then the Greens stand ready to work constructively, as we always have.

We will never choose opportunism or chaos for its own sake, the way some opposition parties do.

The Scottish Greens will do what we have always done, both in government and opposition; we will work constructively and for the common good.

In the words of a more infamous Peter Capaldi character, what we won’t accept is an omni-shambles.