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Nicola Sturgeon: Scottish first minister to resign tomorrow, no successor in place

Nicola Sturgeon: Scottish first minister to resign tomorrow, no successor in place

 Nicola Sturgeon is expected to quit as Scotland's first minister on Wednesday, standing down after more than eight years in the role and with no obvious successor in place.

The 52-year-old is the longest-serving first minister and the first woman to hold the position. She has been a member of the Scottish Parliament since 1999, became the deputy leader of the ruling Scottish National Party (SNP) in 2004, and the leader in the wake of its 2014 independence referendum when the country voted 55% to remain as part of the UK.

Sturgeon has led her party to a series of election victories at the local, Scottish, and UK level. She led SNP to enormous success at the 2015 UK election, winning a whopping 56 of 59 seats in Scotland and establishing it as the third largest party in Britain.

She announced her resignation on Tuesday at a hastily-arranged news conference, saying her decision came from "a deeper and longer-term assessment" and was not a reaction to short-term pressures.

"She's had enough," the BBC, however, cited a source close to the first minister as saying.

SNP took a major blow last November when UK's Supreme Court ruled the Scottish government cannot hold a second referendum on independence without approval from the British Parliament. Support for independence rose above 50% at the time but has since slipped back, according to polls.

The 2014 referendum has been regarded by successive Conservative governments in London as a once-in-a-generation decision that could not be repeated so soon.

Sturgeon, in an effort to increase pressure on London to grant another vote, responded to the decision by saying that she would turn the next British general election into a de facto referendum.

In recent months, the first minister became embroiled in a row with some of her own voters as well as the London government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak over transgender policies after Scotland passed a bill that would make it incredibly easier for people to change their legal gender.

Sunak's government said it would block the bill as it had the potential to impact the law in the rest of the UK.

The row also brought the treatment of transgender people in Scottish prisons under the spotlight. Sturgeon was subjected to difficult questions after a transgender woman facing charges over rape was initially placed in an all-female prison.


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