Credit: Creative Commons

Sturgeon Became the ‘S’ in SNP. What does Scotland’s future hold without her?

Niamh discusses the consequences of Sturgeon’s resignation.

A few weeks ago, Nicola Sturgeon announced that she would be stepping down as First Minister. For the past 15 years, the SNP has been Scotland’s party of choice and Sturgeon has led for eight years. When she took on the role in November 2014 after Alex Salmond’s failed bid for independence, she became the first female and has since become the longest-serving First Minister of Scotland. Sturgeon has been a formidable character in politics; a strong orator with a commanding presence who has rallied the people of Scotland and caused quite a few headaches in Westminster throughout her time in parliament. She has become the face of Scottish politics over the last eight years and we must ask ourselves, what will happen to the SNP and Scotland when she is no longer in control?

 

Politics is never plain sailing, but Nicola Sturgeon faced some extreme turbulence during her time captaining the SNP. During her time in charge, Scotland was dragged out of the EU, she led the country through the Covid-19 pandemic, and she faced off against five Prime Ministers, all of them Tories. She provided stability at a time of great uncertainty in the world and became a strong constant in Scottish politics when Number 10 Downing Street wasn’t so dependable and whose residents seemed to be changing every few weeks. Whether you love her or hate her, it seems hard to deny the significance of her presence in Scotland in politics, in the news and everyday conversations; she has become synonymous with Scottish Independence and the figurehead of Scottish politics.

 

Credit: Creative Commons

 

Throughout her time as First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon seemed confident and assured about her policies, but she began to falter when it came to the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. This bill set out to make it easier for people to legally affirm their gender by removing the need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria and instead requiring individuals to confirm that they had been living in their desired gender for at least three months (for sixteen and seventeen-year-olds, it was for six months). This was due to be the first law of its kind in the UK and make Scotland a leading nation for trans-inclusive, gender-affirming legislation. But it soon became clear it wasn’t that simple; only 20% of Scots backed the new legislation and a previously unflappable Sturgeon was left hesitant and flustered when the topic of transgender prisoners came up. Unfortunately, she was unable to recover from the mess that followed and this triggered her stepping down as First Minister.

 

Sturgeon’s new inclusive legislation was largely unpopular with the Scottish public, and it didn’t get unanimous support from her party as nine SNP MSPs voted against its introduction. This showed the beginning of cracks in the Scottish National Party that have only grown in the weeks following Sturgeon’s resignation as the candidates for her position have emerged. The three candidates, Humza Yousaf, Kate Forbes and Ash Regan, have widely different views and show that the only unifying factor among the SNP is their desire to break up the union. Humza Yousaf seems like the likely choice on paper. He took on many key posts during Sturgeon’s time as leader and has endorsements from almost half of Sturgeon’s ministers and a third of all SNP MSPs.

 

If elected, he is likely to follow in Sturgeon’s footsteps in policy and practice. Kate Forbes, the other strong contender, is quite the opposite. A devoted member of the Calvinist Free Church, Forbes lost significant support for her campaign after it emerged that she disagreed with same-sex marriage, having children outside of marriage and the self-identification legislation for transgender individuals that Yousaf backed. The fact that one of these two is likely to become the leader of the Scottish National Party when they both have such differing views on so much, shows the disconnect and confusion within the party and means the future doesn’t look bright.

 

Sturgeon’s time as First Minister has been extremely eventful, but what has she achieved? A recent YouGov survey showed that 44% of Scots felt she had performed well and 48% said she was doing badly, and this seems like a fair representation of her time as leader. When she was sworn in, Nicola Sturgeon told us to judge her on her progress in eliminating the attainment gap between the most and least deprived pupils in Scotland. While the SNP reached their target of 16% of new entrants to university coming from the 20% of most deprived communities early, there is a 20% gap in children’s literacy and numeracy skills between the most and least deprived communities, the same as it was in 2016.

 

Credit: Creative Commons

 

As for healthcare, Scotland saw fewer Covid-19 deaths per population than England and Wales, but A&E target wait times have only been achieved for 19 out of her 99 months as First Minister, and this reached an all-time low in December. Scotland had a drug-death problem when Sturgeon first stepped up as First Minister and things have only worsened on her watch, with drug-related deaths more than doubling and record-breaking numbers for 7 out of her 8 years on the job. Scotland is still part of the union, and Westminster doesn’t seem to show signs of allowing this to be challenged any time soon. The country is perhaps more divided than it was before she took the reins, and although there have been improvements in some areas, on the whole Sturgeon seems to have left it in more of a mess than she found it in.

 

Nicola Sturgeon has truly become the figurehead of Scottish politics. She has been a constant in politics for the last eight years and is synonymous with independence and the SNP. She seemed to be the future of her party too and we must now question what will happen next. The candidates to replace her have shown just how deeply divided the Scottish National Party are and support for Labour has been steadily rising. If the SNP don’t figure out a direction that pleases the Scottish people, and each other, perhaps the cries for independence will die down and Labour’s red wall will return, this time north of the border.

Comments

comments

55 thoughts on “Sturgeon Became the ‘S’ in SNP. What does Scotland’s future hold without her?

  1. A nicely balanced article. Just goes to show that although a politician may come across well they also need to produce results and the SNP have clearly failed in almost every area where they have governance

  2. 918kiss As part of the promotion of our website. because we Become an authorized agent directly from the main website. and legally registered We are therefore able to distribute Or can always set up new promotions that our website has to update new promotions to always serve the players. Just players apply for new membership. can receive 50% free credit immediately or if the player is an old player, we still have a promotion Return the loss to the players as well, promotions and other privileges. Players can follow us on our website in the promotion menu or contact our staff directly.

  3. With prototypes developed for customers to 918kiss get comfortable and then as quickly as possible.Most of them apply for online slots, making today 918kiss or SCR888 collecting information about How to look at an attractive investment slot website, which is a question that is often discussed. who have posted a topic on pantip slots, you can study according to the information

  4. Enjoy playing 918kiss auto at any time, access to play on the popular online betting site Scr888 918kiss 2023, a web that comes with fun. Plenty of bonus rewards for friends to easily pick 918kiss up and win prizes. Enjoy playing anytime, anywhere through the direct website, not through agents, safe, stable, most reliable. Therefore, friends can be confident in every bet.

  5. Today We would like to take you to get to know each other. with 918kiss online games that we are familiar with With the most popular folk betting game in Thailand 918kiss Hi-Lo betting, experience the fun today Free trial Open for free trial of slot games for all members.

  6. update the fun for you to choose to 918kiss play before anyone else, which 918kiss games are new, which games are popular, which games are popular, which are trending? Choose to play at our website in one place. You don’t have to search for your favorite game anywhere.

  7. That is really interesting, You are an excessively skilled blogger. I’ve joined your rss feed and look ahead to searching for extra of your excellent post. Additionally, I have shared your website in my social networks!

  8. Hi! I know this is kinda off topic however , I’d figured I’d ask. Would you be interested in trading links or maybe guest writing a blog article or vice-versa? My website goes over a lot of the same topics as yours and I believe we could greatly benefit from each other. If you might be interested feel free to shoot me an email. I look forward to hearing from you! Terrific blog by the way!

  9. Simply desire to say your article is as surprising. The clarity for your submit is just spectacular and that i could assume you are an expert on this subject. Well with your permission allow me to take hold of your feed to stay updated with drawing close post. Thanks 1,000,000 and please continue the gratifying work.

  10. hello there and thank you for your information ? I?ve certainly picked up something new from right here. I did however expertise a few technical issues using this website, as I experienced to reload the site a lot of times previous to I could get it to load correctly. I had been wondering if your web hosting is OK? Not that I’m complaining, but sluggish loading instances times will often affect your placement in google and can damage your high-quality score if advertising and marketing with Adwords. Anyway I am adding this RSS to my email and can look out for a lot more of your respective intriguing content. Ensure that you update this again very soon..

  11. Thanks for the strategies you have discussed here. Moreover, I believe there are several factors which keep your motor insurance premium lower. One is, to consider buying motors that are inside the good report on car insurance corporations. Cars that happen to be expensive are usually more at risk of being robbed. Aside from that insurance coverage is also using the value of your car, so the more expensive it is, then higher this premium you only pay.

  12. find fun of playing online 918kiss games that offers the services of the number 1 famous game camp that no one knows along with the fun of the game above the level Raise an army of famous game camps for you to use the service here only. There are many slot games to choose from.

  13. I loved as much as you’ll receive carried out right here. The sketch is tasteful, your authored material stylish. nonetheless, you command get got an edginess over that you wish be delivering the following. unwell unquestionably come more formerly again since exactly the same nearly very often inside case you shield this increase.

  14. It is the best time to make some plans for the longer term and it’s time to be happy. I’ve read this post and if I may just I want to counsel you few attention-grabbing issues or suggestions. Perhaps you could write next articles referring to this article. I wish to read more issues approximately it!

  15. I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my own weblog and was wondering what all is required to get set up? I’m assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny? I’m not very internet savvy so I’m not 100 positive. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers

  16. Thanks for the sensible critique. Me and my neighbor were just preparing to do a little research about this. We got a grab a book from our local library but I think I learned more from this post. I’m very glad to see such great info being shared freely out there.

  17. Can I just say what a relief to find somebody who actually is aware of what theyre talking about on the internet. You definitely know methods to bring a problem to mild and make it important. More individuals have to learn this and understand this facet of the story. I cant consider youre not more popular since you positively have the gift.

  18. I’m not sure why but this weblog is loading very slow for me. Is anyone else having this problem or is it a issue on my end? I’ll check back later on and see if the problem still exists.

  19. We’re a group of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community. Your web site provided us with valuable info to work on. You’ve done a formidable job and our whole community will be grateful to you.

  20. Thanks for your thoughts. One thing I’ve got noticed is always that banks and also financial institutions know the dimensions and spending practices of consumers while also understand that many people max outside their credit cards around the trips. They properly take advantage of this fact and commence flooding ones inbox along with snail-mail box using hundreds of no interest APR credit card offers just after the holiday season closes. Knowing that when you are like 98 of the American public, you’ll jump at the possible opportunity to consolidate card debt and switch balances to 0 rate credit cards.

  21. Hello there, just became alert to your blog through Google, and found that it’s really informative. I am going to watch out for brussels. I?ll be grateful if you continue this in future. Numerous people will be benefited from your writing. Cheers!

  22. Thanks for sharing your ideas right here. The other thing is that every time a problem develops with a laptop or computer motherboard, individuals should not go ahead and take risk involving repairing it themselves for if it is not done right it can lead to permanent damage to an entire laptop. It is almost always safe just to approach the dealer of that laptop with the repair of its motherboard. They’ve got technicians who may have an expertise in dealing with notebook computer motherboard difficulties and can have the right analysis and conduct repairs.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

THE STAND