Nicola Sturgeon to resign as first minister of Scotland
The noted LGBTQ ally has served as the head of Scottish politics for eight years.
Nicola Sturgeon has announced that she is resigning as First Minister of Scotland.
The politician made the announcement at a press conference in Edinburgh this morning [15 February 2023].
The Leader of the Scottish National Party and noted LGBTQ ally shared the news at her official residence, Bute House.
She has served as the head of Scottish politics for over eight years. She first began working in government in 1999.
During the conference, she spoke of the “privilege” of working as FM, calling it “the best job in the world.”
She said she will remain in the job until a successor steps in.
“That issue wasn’t the final straw”
Asked during the conference if the “row” around transgender prisoners was the “straw that broke the camel’s back”, Sturgeon said: “No, that issue wasn’t the final straw.” She then called herself “a voice for inclusion, equality, human rights and dignity. I have been and always will be a feminist. I will fight for women’s right and stand up against threats to women’s rights every day that I have breath in my body. But I’ll also stand up for any stigmatised, discriminated-against, marginalised and vulnerable group in society.”
She went on: “Call me an optimist, but I believe these things must, in any progressive, liberal, inclusive society, find ways of coexisting. Whatever role I play in politics in the future, I will always seek to do everything I can to turn that into a reality.”
Sturgeon said she has been “wrestling” over the decision to step down for “some weeks”. She also spoke of the “brutality” of working in politics and its “mental impact.”
“More so in recent years,” she said, calling leading her country through Covid-19 pandemic the “toughest” thing she’s ever done.
A source close to the 52-year-old told the BBC: “She’s had enough.”
Sturgeon’s exit also follows New Zealand leader Jacinda Ardern announcing her resignation last month.
Three weeks ago, Sturgeon responded to the news about Ardern by telling the BBC: “If I ever reach the point that she has clearly reached, where I think overall I just can’t give the job everything it deserves, then I hope I have the same courage she’s had in saying, ‘OK, this is the point to go’.”
“A full-frontal attack” – Nicola Sturgeon
Her exit follows last month’s news that UK Government is to block Scotland’s new gender reform legislation.
The reforms, passed by the Scottish Parliament in December, remove the need for a medical diagnosis to obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC).
Sturgeon – an advocate of Scottish independence – responded by described the move as “a full-frontal attack on our democratically elected Scottish Parliament.”