Nicola Sturgeon to resign in hastily arranged press conference
Nicola Sturgeon to resign in hastily arranged press conference
Nicola Sturgeon will stand down as First Minister of Scotland after eight years.
The First Minister will speak at a hastily arranged press conference from her residence at Bute House in Edinburgh at 11am.
It is not yet clear if she will stand down immediately, or continue in the role until a new SNP leader is elected.
BBC chief political correspondent Nick Eardley reported a source close to Ms Sturgeon saying: “She’s had enough.”
Several political commentators drew a parallel with the sudden resignation last month of Jacinda Ardern as New Zealand’s prime minister.
Angus B MacNeil, SNP MP, said: “This is as sudden as Jacinda Ardern… Geez.”
And Alison Thewliss, the SNP MP for Glasgow Central and the party’s shadow home affairs spokesperson, said: “Absolutely gutted about this. Nicola has been an incredible leader.”
Ms Sturgeon will leave office as the longest serving and first female First Minister since the creation of the Scottish Parliament, a time which saw her lead the SNP to repeated election victories at UK, Scottish and local level.
The First Minister, however, has been mired in controversy in recent months as her Government sought to push through gender reforms, only for them to be blocked by the UK Government.
And recent weeks have seen her forced to deal with the housing of transgender prisoners in women’s facilities.
Rising to power unopposed after the ill-fated independence referendum in 2014, Nicola Sturgeon took over from Alex Salmond, the mentor with whom she would come into conflict in the years to come over the handling of sexual harassment allegations made against him.
But the First Minister stands down without realising her key political mission – independence for Scotland.
Her party will meet next month to discuss the holding of treating the next UK election as a “de facto referendum”, with more than 50% of the vote being considered a mandate to begin negotiations for Scotland to become an independent country.
Articles-Popular
- Main
- Contact Us
- Planetary Existences-2
- Planetary Existences
- TWO REVELATIONS-2
- The Two Revelations
- Jeffery Epstein - The Saga - 9
- Jeffery Epstein - The Saga - 8
- Jeffery Epstein - The Saga - 10
- Universality of Initiation
- The Participants In The Mysteries-2
- The Path Of Initiation
- Initiation and the Devas
- Discipleship - Group Relations - 2
- Impeachment Investigators Subpoena White House - Ukraine
- The Fourth Way - Study of Oneself - P.D.Ouspensky
- The Probationary Path - 2
- The Final Initiation
- The Succeeding Two Initiations
- The Participants In The Mysteries
- Discipleship - Group Relationships
- Discipleship
- Jeffery Epstein - The Saga - 7
- The Fourth Way - Wrong Functions - P.D Ouspensky
- Statues are a mark of honour. Like Edward Colston, Cecil Rhodes and Oliver Cromwell have to go
- Jeffery Epstein - The Saga - 6
Articles - Latest
- Ofcom launches investigation into David Lammy’s LBC radio show
- NATO needs to take punitive measures against Erdogan, here's why
- Iran launches massive drone attack on Israel
- Brexit has made the UK a lower-status nation, says David Miliband
- ‘Hungarians rise’: Tens of thousands protest against Orban in Budapest
- Though Rwanda has come a long way since the 1994 genocide, scars of the past still haunt the nation
- Who is Mohamed Mansour? Knighted billionaire who gave Tories £5m
- South Africa’s parliament speaker resigns over accusations of bribery
- A Russian journalist who covered Navalny's trials is jailed in Moscow on charges of extremism
- Senegal top court confirms Bassirou Diomaye Faye's election victory
- Remembering Russia's sudden withdrawal from a key nuclear arms agreement
- Myanmar junta chief calls for unity, says military holding power 'temporarily'
- Khan pledges 1,300 more police officers, PCSOs and special constables on streets
- Russia's oil shipments to North Korea breach UN sanctions, expose rising authoritarian ties
- China's Xi tells Dutch PM cutting supply chains would lead to confrontation