Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s longest-serving first minister, has announced that she is resigning after over eight years in the role.
During a a hastily-arranged news conference in Edinburgh, the embattled SNP leader said that, after “wrestling” with the decision for some weeks, she knew with her “head and heart” that it was time to go.
Sturgeon says she will stand down once a successor had been appointed – though she has refused to give an opinion on who she’d like to succeed her as SNP leader. She stressed that winning independence is still “a cause I believe in with every fibre of my being” and confirmed that she she intends to stay in parliament until the next election and looks forward to serving her constituency.
While some commentators may brand it a “shock resignation”, this feels misguided. Indeed, as Reaction has reported for some time now, it was clear Sturgeon was heading for the dustbin of history. She has been embroiled in huge controversy over her attempts to reform gender recognition laws – which has subsequently left her squirming when attempting to explain whether she believes trans rapist Isla Bryson is female. She has also been under pressure following questions about her husband‘s loan to the SNP.
Needless to say, when asked if the trans issue had been the final straw in her decision to step down, Sturgeon denied this, insisting her resignation is not a reaction to “short-term pressures”. She was also keen to point out that, even during tough times, she enjoyed approval ratings after eight years in government that “most leaders would give their right arm for”.
It seems Sturgeon has answered a call from Reaction’s Jenny Hjul , who urged the First Minister to follow the lead of Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s former prime minister, who announced her sudden resignation last month. For years, Sturgeon has been keen to emulate Ardern, Hjul reasoned – why stop now?
And sure enough, Sturgeon appeared to mimic Ardern’s resignation speech today.
Just like Ardern, she was keen to paint her choice to to step down of her own accord as a virtue. “I’m proud that I know when it’s time to move on,” she said, unlike so many politicians who simply “cling on and on.”
And again, much like Arden, she was at pains to stress she is a “human being” not just a politician.
While she is “not expecting violins”, she noted that being first minister, having “virtually no privacy” and leading Scotland through coronavirus has taken a significant toll on her mental and physical health. Now, she added, it was time to focus a little less on Nicola the politician and instead, “to spend a bit of time on Nicola Sturgeon the human being.”
Yet this much-uttered “human being” phrase also served as a somewhat convenient way to dodge questions on her abysmal record in office – and the fact she has presided over the deterioration of the entirety of Scotland’s public services. When asked by BBC Scotland editor James Cook if she had “regrets” over Scotland’s overwhelmed health service, the widened attainment gap and the fact that her party is nowhere near getting the sustained level of support required for independence, Sturgeon simply replied: “I’m a human being…of course I’ve got regrets about all sorts of things”.
Sturgeon has been first minister since November 2014, when she took over from Alex Salmond after he left the role in the wake of the failed Scottish independence referendum, leaving her to enthusiastically take up his dead-end mission. Who next?
Write to us with your comments to be considered for publication at letters@reaction.life
