The leader of the Scottish independence movement, Nicola Sturgeon, announced her shock resignation on Wednesday after serving as Scotland's First Minister for eight years.
The leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) made the announcement at a news conference in Edinburgh. She will continue to serve as SNP leader until a replacement is named.
Ms Sturgeon said she knew the “time is now” for her to stand down and that it was “right for me, for my party and for the country”.
Why did Nicola Sturgeon resign?
Ms Sturgeon said she could no longer give her full energy to the job and that she felt she must say so now.
“This decision comes from a deeper and longer-term assessment,” she said.
“I have been wrestling with it, albeit with oscillating levels of intensity for some weeks, giving absolutely everything of yourself to this job is the only way to do it.”
She said it was difficult to have a private life and hard to “meet friends for a coffee or go for a walk on your own”. She added that there was a “brutality” to life at the top.
Ms Sturgeon also said that she hoped her successor would be “someone who is not subject to the same polarised opinions, fair or unfair, as I now am”.
Who will take over from Nicola Sturgeon?
There is “no obvious successor” to her, her predecessor as First Minister, Alex Salmond, said.
“There are a range of able people in the SNP but they will now be tested in the fire of leadership inheriting a number of serious government policy challenges,” Mr Salmond tweeted.
Possible candidates to replace Ms Sturgeon are rumoured to be deputy first minister John Swinney, the SNP leader between 2000 and 2004, finance secretary Kate Forbes, health secretary Humza Yousaf and lawyer Joanna Cherry.
How long has Nicola Sturgeon been in power?
Ms Sturgeon has led the Scottish Parliament — the first woman to hold such a role — since November 20, 2014, when she succeeded Mr Salmond.
She joined the Scottish Parliament in 1999 as a list Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Glasgow area and served there until she was elected to the Glasgow Southside seat in 2007.
Is Nicola Sturgeon married?
Ms Sturgeon is married to the SNP’s current chief executive Peter Murrell.
The couple first met at a young SNP members’ event in Aberdeenshire when Ms Sturgeon was 18. They started dating in 2003 and married in Glasgow in 2010.
They do not have any children. Ms Sturgeon has disclosed that she had a miscarriage in 2011 at the age of 40, but that she had kept this quiet so as not to let that misfortune define her.
How much does Nicola Sturgeon earn?
As of April 2015, the First Minister was eligible to receive a total income of £144,687. This was made up of an MSP base pay of £59,089 and a First Minister compensation of £85,598.
According to her tax returns in 2022, she was paid £140,496 from her employment as an MSP and First Minister.
