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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Neil Shaw

Nicola Sturgeon to resign as Scottish First Minister

Nicola Sturgeon is expected to resign as First Minister of Scotland, according to the BBC.

The Scottish National Party leader will give a press conference at her official residence Bute House in Edinburgh at 11am.

BBC chief political correspondent Nick Eardley reported a source close to First Minister said: “She’s had enough.”

It is not clear when she will leave office. Ms Sturgeon has been first minister since November 2014, when she took over from Alex Salmond following the independence referendum.

She went on to become the country's longest-serving first minister.

Nicola Sturgeon has been a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) since 1999, first as an additional member for the Glasgow electoral region, and as the member for Glasgow Southside (formerly Glasgow Govan) from 2007.

Born in Ayrshire, Sturgeon is a law graduate of the University of Glasgow, having worked as a solicitor in Glasgow before her election to the Scottish Parliament in 1999. She served successively as the SNP's shadow minister for education, health, and justice. In 2004, Sturgeon announced she would stand as a candidate for the leadership of the SNP, however, she later withdrew from the contest in favour of Alex Salmond, standing instead as depute (deputy) leader on a joint ticket with Salmond.

Both were subsequently elected, and as Salmond was still an MP in the British House of Commons, Sturgeon led the SNP in the Scottish Parliament as Leader of the Opposition from 2004 to 2007. The SNP won the highest number of seats in the Scottish Parliament in the 2007 election and Salmond was subsequently appointed first minister.

He appointed Sturgeon as Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing. Following the defeat of the Yes Scotland campaign in the referendum, Salmond resigned and Sturgeon was elected unopposed as SNP leader in November 2014 and appointed as first minister.

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