Hamish at the Scotsman had the gossip out first, according to my RSS reader. Michael Crow, STV's well-respected political correspondent, is to be the new Director of Strategy and Communications for the Tories. It's the classic poacher-turned-gamekeeper manœuvre, or vice versa if you prefer. He's always been hard to read, politically, unlike his colleague David Torrance. If pressed, though, I'd say he's probably rightish on crime but more leftish on civil liberties and economics.
It's a great coup for the Tories: he's shrewd, sensible and exceptionally well-connected. Ramsay Jones, their existing head of press, is an effective operator, and I don't yet know if he's staying on, but the two together would be a formidable team, however ill-conceived the policies they generally have to promote.
Watch out for reduced amounts of waffling from Tory MSPs doing broadcast interviews in particular - Michael has a longstanding habit of training his interviewees on the spot when they don't get to the point quickly enough.
Yes, his shallow cut approach to 'understanding' issues will stand him in good stead with the tories, but he'll probably run screaming for mercy within 6 months, my prediction.