Scotland’s chief minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has announced her resignation from the post she has held for more than eight years, after a term of office marked by the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union and repeated calls for a second independence referendum and, in recent weeks, by the controversies surrounding the ‘trans law’.
Sturgeon, who replaced Alex Salmond in November 2014 after the failure of the first consultation and is the head of government who has been in power the longest, has appeared before the media in Edinburgh to confirm what hours earlier had already been advanced by the main British media.
«Today I announce my intention to resign as chief minister and leader of my party,» said Sturgeon, who has however clarified that it is not an immediate departure, but will remain in both positions until a successor is elected.
The Scottish leader has appealed to the «sense of duty» and «love» for the party and the «country» to justify a decision that, as she has pointed out on several occasions, is not as sudden as it might seem. Thus, she has acknowledged the wear and tear of her long period in power and, more recently, facing challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sturgeon has made it clear that this is not due to «short-term pressures», although there have been «difficult issues» in the most recent period. The government has come under fire in recent weeks for, among other reasons, the law favoring gender reassignment, blocked from London and criticized by conservative groups.
«Winning independence is the cause to which I have dedicated my life,» Sturgeon has acknowledged, leaving it up to the SNP as a whole to decide key issues on this cause at the congress in March. Sturgeon has advocated, for example, turning the next legislative elections into a ‘de facto’ referendum on secession.
A LIFE IN POLITICS «I am also a human being,» she said in a speech with personal and family allusions and in which, however, she has clarified that she will not completely retire from political life, to which she has promised to remain linked to the defense of causes that she considers important.
Born in the city of Irvine in 1970, Sturgeon has been a member of the Scottish National Party (SNP) since she was a teenager and has been a full-time politician since before she turned 30, after a brief period as a lawyer. In recent years, the SNP has gained weight in both the Scottish and central parliaments.
Possible replacements include the current ‘number two’ in the Scottish Executive, John Swinney, and ministers Kate Forbes, Angus Robertson and Humza Yousaf, according to the BBC.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
