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Scotland’s first minister, pro-independence Nicola Sturgeon, weakened by a controversial law that recently eased gender transition, announced her resignation on Wednesday after eight years in power during which she enjoyed high popularity.
“Nicola Sturgeon has made a surprise resignation after eight and a half years as Scottish Chief Minister and as leader of her party. It has been a sudden decision that she has said she has pondered for several weeks,” reports Daniel Postico, RFI’s London correspondent.
The 52-year-old leader, who for years has led the fight for a new referendum on independence from the United Kingdom, assured that her resignation “is not a reaction to short-term problems”, but the conviction that “no individual should be dominant in a system for a long time”.
“In my mind and in my heart I know that the time has come, that the time is right for me, for my party and for the country, and that is why I am announcing today my intention to step down as Prime Minister and leader of my party.” He stated at a press conference in Edinburgh, specifying that he will remain in office until his successor is appointed.
He stressed, however, that he will not leave politics, because he remains committed to issues such as improving opportunities for young people and “gaining independence.” “It’s a cause to which I have dedicated my whole life and in which I believe,” she said with a tired and circumspect face.
The news, announced an hour earlier by the British media, came as a surprise to the entire country.
In January, following the shock resignation of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Sturgeon said she was still “full of energy” and felt “not anywhere close” to the time she would have to leave.
Sturgeon became leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) and Scottish Home Rule government following the resignation of his predecessor and mentor Alex Salmond in 2014, after Scots voted 55% to remain in the UK.
Since then, with patience and determination, he has resumed the fight for independence, reinvigorated by Brexit, which was overwhelmingly opposed by the Scots.
Since then, he has defended calling a second referendum, an option firmly rejected by the central executive in London.
Controversy over trans law
With very high levels of popularity for his successful management of the covid-19 pandemic, which contrasted with the chaotic policies of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Sturgeon accumulated electoral successes and obtained a new pro-independence majority in the regional Parliament together with environmentalists in May 2021.
But it was weakened by the approval last December of a highly controversial law that facilitates the gender transition, allowing it from the age of 16 and without the need for a medical diagnosis.
Rishi Sunak’s Conservative UK executive said he would oppose it and just after its approval a scandal added fuel to the fire: a transgender woman convicted of raping women before her transition was jailed in a women’s prison, prompting strong reactions .
Finally, the person was transferred to a prison for men.
Born in the industrial city of Irvine, southwest of Glasgow, to an electrician father and a nurse mother, Sturgeon joined the SNP at the age of 16, as vice-coordinator of youth.
Peter Murrell, her husband, is the party’s general manager. The couple, who have no children, met more than 20 years ago at a meeting of the youth of the SNP, of which Sturgeon became one of the first representatives in the Scottish Home Rule Parliament when it was formed in 1999.
The prime minister will remain in office until her party elects a new leader.