LONDON: On Wednesday, Nicola Sturgeon announced her resignation as first minister of Scotland, stating that her power over her party and the nation no longer served her well in the fight for an independent Scotland.
She has been in power since 2014 and stated that she had become too divisive and exhausted to bridge political divides and that she wanted to focus on "Nicola Sturgeon the person" rather than the "brutality" of contemporary politics. Following a 2014 independence referendum in which Scotland voted 55% to 45% to remain a part of the United Kingdom, Sturgeon assumed the position of leader of the Scottish National Party.
She became known as the best political communicator in the UK as she led her party to a series of electoral victories. During the Covid pandemic, she avoided many of the mistakes made by Westminster politicians, demonstrating those skills.
However, in recent months, the UK Supreme Court obstructed the path she wanted to take for a new independence referendum, and she became involved in a dispute over transgender rights that enraged even some of her own supporters. She made the surprising announcement that she would step down as first minister and SNP leader when a replacement was found.
Sturgeon acknowledged that the "physical and mental impact" of the job had taken its toll and that she had been "wrestling" with the question of when it was time to step down for weeks. She stated that while she believed the majority of Scots supported independence, the SNP needed to increase and maintain that support. We need to bridge the political divide in Scotland in order to accomplish that. And based on my current assessment, a new leader will be better able to accomplish this. someone about whom almost everyone in the country does not already have a predetermined opinion, either positive or negative.
Sturgeon stated that the brutality of contemporary politics had taken a toll on her and that she could no longer commit to giving "every ounce of energy" that the job entailed, echoing Jacinda Ardern's statement that she had "no more in the tank" when she resigned as New Zealand's PM in January.