Live Blog: Nicola Sturgeon will stand down as First Minister of Scotland, she has announced at a press conference at Bute House in Edinburgh. : As it happens
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Nicola Sturgeon to resign in hastily arranged press conference, BBC reports
Key Events
- The First Minister spoke at a hastily arranged press conference from her residence at Bute House in Edinburgh at 11am
- Nicola Sturgeon has instructed the SNP to begin the process of electing a new leader and will remain in office until her successor is chosen, she told a press conference at Bute House in Edinburgh.
- Nicola Sturgeon has said she knows the “time is now” for her to stand down as Scotland’s First Minister, adding that it was “right for me, for my party and for the country”.
Nicola Sturgeon’s historic career as First Minister will be remembered for the fight for Scottish independence and tackling the Covid-19 pandemic.
She will leave office as the longest-serving and first female First Minister since the creation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999.
Ms Sturgeon joined the Scottish National Party at the age of 16 and rose through the ranks to take top billing after Alex Salmond stood down following the defeat in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum and was voted in as First Minister days later.
SNP MP Stewart McDonald described Nicola Sturgeon as “the finest public servant of the devolution age” amid reports of her expected departure as Scottish First Minister.
“Nicola Sturgeon is the finest public servant of the devolution age,” the MP for Glasgow South tweeted, sharing a photograph of himself with Ms Sturgeon.
“Her public service, personal resilience and commitment to Scotland is unmatched, and she has served our party unlike anyone else. She will be an enormous loss as First Minister and SNP leader. Thank you!”
Alison Thewliss, the SNP MP for Glasgow Central and the party’s home affairs spokesperson, said she was “gutted” at news of Nicola Sturgeon’s impending resignation.
She tweeted: “Absolutely gutted about this. Nicola has been an incredible leader.”