Nicola Sturgeon is Scotland’s longest serving Prime Minister. He is a major political force in Britain, but has recently suffered many setbacks. Now he stepped forward.

Nicola Sturgeon (52) is awake. That’s what he said in a speech on Wednesday, in which he announced he would be stepping down as Scotland’s political leader. Because, according to him, the post of prime minister may be ‘the most beautiful on earth’, but it is also very heavy. And Sturgeon has held that position longer than any Scot: more than eight years. He said that personal life is almost non-existent in contemporary politics and this gives the work an extreme level of “intensity” and even “brutality”. It takes total commitment and energy that no one can muster forever. Neither do they. He will last until there is a replacement.

That Sturgeon would become Scotland’s first female political leader was not expected when she was born – in 1970 in the west of Scotland. He grew up in a family where politics did not play a major role, he said in a 2013 interview with BBC radio.

Thatcher is a political inspiration

Neoliberal British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher served as a political inspiration in the late 1970s. Even in a negative sense. In an interview with the BBC, Sturgeon explained that: “Thatcher became Prime Minister, the economy was not doing well and a lot of people around me were at risk of unemployment”. This sparked a ‘drive for social justice’ in him. “And also the strong feeling that Scotland is being ruled by a Tory government that we didn’t elect is wrong.” Scotland has traditionally voted far more on the left than England as a whole.

He joined the Scottish National Party (SNP) and went on to study law at the University of Glasgow. He later worked as a lawyer for an organization that helps vulnerable groups in society. In 1999 he became a full-time politician. He took a seat in the Scottish Parliament, which was created the same year as part of Britain’s political devolution. He initially had to settle for being on the opposition bench. But since 2007 – first under Alex Salmond and seven years later under his own leadership – the SNP has been the biggest.

Rock star image

Sturgeon was the SNP’s campaign manager for the Scottish independence referendum in 2014. He was able to convince more Scots to vote for independence than previously thought: 45 per cent. However, that’s not enough. Salmond resigned. Sturgeon took his place. He initially took on an almost rock star image. During the election campaign, he drove past a full stadium. He became one of the most popular politicians in England and was a major figure in Scotland’s bid for independence, even after 2014.

But lately the problems started piling up. Scotland’s proposed progressive transgender law has not only come into conflict with the British government, but has also divided its own party. And the British Supreme Court banned Sturgeon from organizing a new referendum on Scottish independence. His plan to contest the upcoming parliamentary elections with the SNP with the demand for independence as the only agenda (to de facto turn the elections into a referendum) was not well received by most parties.

However, Sturgeon emphasized Wednesday that setbacks are not the determining factor. He had been pondering the idea of ​​quitting for some time. “I have been politician Nicola Sturgeon my whole life,” he explained. “Maybe now I want to spend time with Nicola Sturgeon the human. Does that sound selfish? I hope not.”

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