Nicola Sturgeon opens up with heartfelt message at comedy festival

NICOLA Sturgeon has given a heartfelt message to a comedy festival audience in her first public appearance since being cleared from the police investigation into SNP finances.

The former first minister attended the Glasgow International Comedy Festival on Saturday with crime writer and best friend Val McDermid, for their joint event Books and Banter.

(Image: PA) They were later joined on stage by comedian and writer Ashley Storrie – the daughter of the late Janey Godley – and crime writer Chris Brookmyre.

As the former first minister entered the stage to The Who's I'm Free, she was met with a standing ovation from the 1700 people packed into the King's Theatre in Glasgow.

The pair were quick to address the news that Sturgeon had been cleared of any wrongdoing after a police investigation into the SNP's finances, alongside former party treasurer Colin Beattie.

McDermid joked that she had a speech prepared on the news but that Sturgeon "went through the script and crossed everything out".

Sturgeon said: "You can take a girl out of politics – which hasn't really happened yet – but you can't take politics out of a girl.

"When Val showed me what she was planning to say tonight about certain events this week I had to put my spin-doctor hat on.

(Image: PA) "The last couple of years have been interesting, the last couple of weeks have been interesting. I announced that I was going to leave politics, I've released the cover of my book.

"I wouldn't have gotten through it without some really good pals, Val and Jo [McDermid's wife], certainly chief amongst them, there are others here tonight.

"But also without so many of you, people I've never met, who come along to things like this, send me messages of support.

"So I just wanted to take 30 seconds tonight to say from the bottom of my heart, thank you for all the support you've shown me."

McDermid added that it was a special day and that her friend was now "free and out in the world".

During the event, Sturgeon and McDermid talked about their shared love of books, as well as the story of how they became friends after Sturgeon asked McDermid to take part in an event with her at the Edinburgh International Book Festival shortly after she became first minister.

(Image: PA) "It was books that brought us together," McDermid said.

Sturgeon added: "I had fangirled about you. One day, in the midst of the independence referendum I had been in my – for the purposes of the Daily Mail – my ministerial limo going through Edinburgh, and I saw Val walking down the street reading a book as she went.

"I was like, 'that's Val McDermid!'. I was starstruck."

The former first minister also opened up about her memoir, Frankly, which is due to be published on August 14 this year.

When discussing how funny the book would be, Sturgeon joked: "I was a bloody politician – you know, Boris Johnson is in it!"

At one point in the show McDermid told Sturgeon: "Don’t give up the day job."

Sturgeon replied: "That train might have left the station. You never know, I might change my mind."

“For the benefit of all of the journalists in the room, that was a joke,” she added.

Sturgeon and McDermid were later joined by Storrie, who spoke about her role in the Bafta award-winning BBC series Dinosaur – which she confirmed she is currently working on the second season of – and her love of fanfiction.

Storrie also opened up about her late mum Janey Godley, who sadly passed away in November after a long battle with ovarian cancer, and who Sturgeon and McDermid were both close friends with.

During the lockdown period, Godley went viral online for her infamous voiceover videos of Sturgeon's daily coronavirus press conferences, which led to the iconic phrase, "Frank, get the door".

Storrie said: "For anybody who doesn't know, my ma is Nicola's other voice. It's very weird to look at you [Sturgeon] sometimes, because I expect to hear my deed ma's voice coming out."

She added that her mum often asked her what she thought certain politicians would sound like, as she did an impression of a "wee, wee, man".

Sturgeon responded: "Was that Douglas Ross?"

Storrie continued: "Janey Godley is my ma. She passed away the week before the Baftas, and she predicted this [that Dinosaur would win a Bafta].

"We had an audio recording that ended up not going on her Radio 4 show where she's like, 'I'm gonna wait for something dead big to happen and then I'm gonna die so you won't get the attention'."

Sturgeon added that Godley was "brilliant", which was met with another round of applause from the audience.

When the group announced the interval of the show, Sturgeon ended with: "Frank, get the door."