By Tony O’Reilly-
Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, (pictured) has resigned from her position as Scotland’s first prime minister, telling a press conference today that it is not right for her to carry on in the job.
The SNP leader made the announcement during a press conference in Edinburgh at her official residence, Bute House, at 11am. She aid she has been wrestling with the idea of resignation for weeks and had to face the difficult question of whether it was correct for her to continue.
The Scottish first minister outlined her reasons for resigning, stressing that her decision is not a reaction to “short-term pressures”. She said she had been struggling with the thought of resignation for some weeks.
Nicola Sturgeon admitted there were “difficult issues” confronting the government but said she has “plenty of experience to draw on” in “soldiering on when walking away would be the simpler option”.
She said: ”This decision comes from a deeper and longer-term assessment. I know it might seem sudden, but I have been wrestling with it, albeit with oscillating levels of intensity, for some weeks.
‘Essentially I’ve been trying to answer two questions. Is carrying on right for me? And, more importantly, is me carrying on right for the country, for my party and for the independence cause I have devoted my life to?
‘I understand why some will automatically answer ‘yes’ to that second question but, in truth, I have been having to work harder in recent times to convince myself that the answer to either of them when examined deeply is yes and I’ve reached the conclusion that it’s not’
Sturgeon said she had told the SNP to begin the process of electing a new party leader and she will “will remain in office until my successor is elected”.
She said she is of the view that there is now a majority of support for Scottish independence but that support “needs to be solidified”.
“To achieve that, we must reach across the divide in Scottish politics and my judgment now is that a new leader would be better able to do this,” she said.
“Someone about whom the mind of almost everyone in the country is not already made up, for better or worse. Someone who is not subject to quite the same polarised opinions, fair or unfair, as I now am.”
Ms Sturgeon has led the party and the country since 2014 after taking over from her predecessor, Alex Salmond.
There have been many reactions to Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation speech , including party president Michael Russell who hailed her “extraordinary and brilliant leadership”.
Former SNP leader in the House of Commons Ian Blackford said Sturgeon was “the finest first minster Scotland has ever had, and the finest friend anyone could hope for”.
“When Scotland wins independence, she will have been its architect and builder. She has laid the foundations we all now stand on. We owe it to her to finish the job.”
Amy Callaghan, MP for East Dunbartonshire, said Sturgeon was “a personal inspiration to many” and “a trailblazer”.
“Scotland has never had a leader like this. Unbeatable, unflappable, always there to speak up for her nation. She will be missed,” tweeted Perth and North Perthshire MP Peter Wishart.
Joanna Cherry, MP for Edinburgh South West, says: “It is vital that the SNP reacts to the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon in a way that is beneficial to the country and the cause of independence. Our party needs a leadership election that is about policies and not personalities.”
Sturgeon has secured election successes at every poll since then and continued to push for Scottish independence, campaigning for a second referendum on the decision.
She has frequently accused the British government in Westminster of undermining the importance of Scottish political opinion, and its push for independence.
She accused former prime minister, Liz Truss, of behaving in an unprecedented manner after revealing that she had not got in touch since becoming prime minister.
Truss had previously described the First Minister as an “attention seeker” who should be “ignored”, making it unsurprising though disappointing that she had not even shown the political decency and maturity to contact Sturgeon.
Only last Sunday, Truss- who broke all records for lasting the shortest period of any prime minister in Downing Street- published a column in The Sunday Telegraph in which the former PM said she was never given a “realistic chance” to implement her radical tax-cutting agenda by her party and by a “powerful economic establishment”.
Truss and former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget would later become a key problem and contributing factor in the crashing of the UK’s economy.
Sturgeon would have likely celebrated Truss’s quick exit, is the banished ex prime minister would become the ignored entity she desired for Sturgeon.
Sturgeon’s challenges were many, including with her bill on gender recognition.
Despite passing the legislation in Holyrood, it was then blocked by Westminster, with ministers claiming it would have a “significant impact” on equalities. The topic would so heat up beyond that imagined, after transgender double rapist Isla Bryson was housed in an all-female prison before being moved to the male estate.
The 31-year-old had been found guilty of attacking two women while a man and was initially housed in Cornton Vale near Stirling.
The case caused controversy amid a debate around self-ID and the Scottish government’s Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Act, which was blocked by the UK government.
Sturgeon had herself insisted on Bryson being placed in a male prison, following the uproar.
After much public drama, Scotland’s Justice Secretary Keith Brown ordered an urgent case review into the management of transgender prisoners.
The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) concluded that women were ‘not at risk of harm’ during Bryson’s stay at Cornton Vale, highlighting that the transgender woman did not interact with other prisoners. The SPS also pledged to assess subsequent cases involving crime committed by transgender women at the time they were men, on a case by case basis.
Tory MSP Russell Findlay said: “We still have no idea why a double rapist was sent into a women’s prison or what involvement SNP ministers had in his removal following the public backlash.”
However, the SNP has maintained a strong lead in polling.
Husband’s Loan
Ms Sturgeon was also recently questioned over her husband Peter Murrell’s £107,000 loan to the SNP.
She said she could not recall when she first found out about the loan, and insisted that “what he does with his resources is a matter for him”.
During a press conference earlier this month, Ms Sturgeon said: “The resources that he lent the party were resources that belonged to him.”
In December, it emerged that Mr Murrell, who is the party’s chief executive, made the loan in June 2021 to help with “cash flow” following a Holyrood election campaign.
Following the election in May, SNP MP Douglas Chapman quit as the party’s treasurer, claiming he was not given enough information about finances to do his job.
It came after three other members of the SNP’s finance and audit committee also resigned.
Police Scotland is also currently investigating what happened to an estimated £600,000 raised by party activists to be ringfenced for a second independence referendum.
The SNP has denied any wrongdoing.
During Ms Sturgeon’s press conference announcing her resignation, a journalist asked: “Have you been or do you expect to be interviewed by the police who are looking into your party’s finances?”
The first minister replied: “I’m not going to discuss an ongoing police investigation. I wouldn’t do that on any issue and I’m not going to do it now.”
Ms Sturgeon has led the party and the country since 2014 after taking over from her predecessor, Alex Salmond, making her the longest-serving first minister since devolution to Holyrood.