[48], As Health Secretary, Sturgeon became more widely known internationally for her handling of the 2009 flu pandemic. We feel we are being lied to. She insisted her resignation was not as result of "short term pressures", such as the ferry fiasco, the gender recognition reform bill, transgender prisoners, or the police fraud inquiry into SNP finances, but stated that the job "takes its toll on you". [145], On 4 March 2021, Sturgeon answered questions over a period of eight hours from members of the committee. "[252], In 2015, Sturgeon said that she planned to make education her "defining priority" while in office. [115][116][117], The UK Government held the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum to decide the future of the United Kingdom's European Union membership, in which all 32 council areas in Scotland voted by a majority for the United Kingdom to remain a member of the EU. [182][183], Sturgeon was nominated for the post of First Minister by a vote of the Scottish Parliament on 18 May, defeating Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross and Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie by 64 votes to 31 and 4 respectively. by Anthony Horan in News. It was reported that Salmond had privately supported Sturgeon in her leadership bid, but decided to run for the position himself as it became apparent she was unlikely to beat Cunningham. [63] In June 2012, the Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012 was passed after receiving support from the Liberal Democrats, Conservatives and Greens. [230][231][232] In the 2021 SNP manifesto, Sturgeon committed the party once again to reform the Gender Recognition Act 2004 of the UK Parliament and in August that year included the commitment in her agreement with the Scottish Greens on power-sharing. "[148], Sturgeon led her party to a landslide victory in the 2019 United Kingdom general election in Scotland. Nicola Sturgeon will resign from her first minister post, she announced Wednesday. Their neighbourhoods are shared with people who adhere to a Protestant culture, but they are less likely to have been at the crest of the SNP wave. [269][270], In the run up to the 2017 Catalan independence referendum, Nicola Sturgeon offered her own personal backing and that of the Scottish Government to Catalonia in the holding of a referendum. People with dormant grievances and minimal interest in politics suddenly became passionately intense in expressing a new faith and displaying impressive knowledge about English wickedness all the way back to 1745. We believe that the value of marriage should be clearly referred to in the guidelines, without denigrating other relationships or children brought up in other kinds of relationship." [126] May's comments confirmed that the PM wanted the Scottish government to be "fully engaged" in the process. [232], In January 2021, a former trans officer in the SNP's LGBT wing, Teddy Hope, quit the party, claiming it was one of the "core hubs of transphobia in Scotland". [146] Two of the civil servants who made complaints about Salmond later said they felt they had been "dropped" by the Scottish Government after it lost the judicial review against him, adding they feared their experiences would make it less likely people would make complaints in the future. Born in Ayrshire, Sturgeon is a law graduate of the University of Glasgow, having worked as a solicitor in Glasgow before her election to the Scottish Parliament in 1999. [26], Sturgeon served as Shadow Minister for Health and Community Care from 2000 to 2003, and Shadow Minister for Justice from 2003 to 2004. SNP convener Derek Mackay publicly congratulated Sturgeon as de facto leader in waiting, saying that she would be "a fantastic new leader" for both the SNP and for Scotland. She served successively as the SNP's shadow minister for education, health, and justice. We believe in the free flow of. Many of these Catholic SNP converts were likely to have been among the 12,000 people who packed the Hydro arena in Glasgow on November 22. On 24 June, Sturgeon said she would communicate to all EU member states that Scotland had voted to stay in the EU. From her family background, we can say that Nicola is Christian. Sturgeon oversaw the scrapping of prescription charges and was widely recognised for her handling of the 2009 swine flu pandemic. Nicola was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, on July 9, 1970. She launched her programme for government, the Better Health, Better Care: Action Plan, which settled a new vision for NHS Scotland. [265], Sturgeon was highly critical of Donald Trump and his policies during the 2016 United States presidential election and had publicly backed his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. [102], Sturgeon's cabinet was 50/50 gender balance, with five men and five women, including herself. "Based on this experience, Health Protection Scotland has expressed the view that sustained community transmission appears to be taking place. John Swinney and Nicola Sturgeon "wrestled" with the idea of leaving at the same time, the Deputy First Minister has said. The 50-year-old politician created history by being the first female Minister of Scotland. Nicola Sturgeon Speaking At National Economic Forum (Source: Instagram) Acknowledging this, Sturgeon suggested: "That is why the SNP have urged a policy for many months that we believe can provide people with the necessary reassurance, by providing a statutory underpinning to the guidelines, and resolve this difficult debate. [327], Forbes magazine ranked Sturgeon as the 50th most powerful woman in the world in 2016 and 2nd in the United Kingdom. [77][78][79] Sturgeon said that there would be "no greater privilege" than to lead the SNP. RELATIONSHIP DETAILS BELOW Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon is a Scottish politician and the fifth and current First Minister of Scotland and the leader of the Scottish National Party, in office since 2014. "We have seen a rapid increase in the number of confirmed cases in Scotland over the past 10 days," she told Parliament. Nicola Sturgeon went on a stadium tour after becoming SNP leader She opened her premiership more like a rock star than a politician, embarking on a sold-out stadium tour amid a blaze of popular. [247], In August 2021 the Scottish Government announced there had been 1,339 drug deaths in the previous year a new record high. [240], In 2016 the Scottish Government cut direct funding to drug and alcohol rehabilitation programmes from 69.2 million to 53.8 million a drop of 22%. [82][83] It quickly became apparent that no other candidate would be able to receive enough required nominations to run a credible leadership campaign. [156] On 23 March, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Sturgeon ordered Scotland into "lockdown", limiting the reasons why people may leave their homes in an attempt to limit the spread of the virus, to protect the health of the population, and to ease the pressure the virus placed on NHS Scotland services and workforce. Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has said her government is an "unequivocal supporter" of Catholic schools. This is what arguably the only figure prepared to take on the cult of Yesism at the climax of the referendum discovered. [15] Sturgeon was shy and has said that she "much preferred to sit with my head in a book than talking to people". The first minister was answering a question from Labour MSP Pauline O'Neill about "anti-Irish and anti-Catholic prejudice" in Scotland after arrests were made in the wake of . In 2004, Sturgeon announced she would stand as a candidate for the leadership of the SNP; however, she later withdrew from the contest in favour of Alex Salmond, standing instead as depute (deputy) leader on a joint ticket with Salmond. [13] Her grandmother married Robert Sturgeon, a gardener from Ayr, at St Paul's Parish Church in 1943, and they both eventually moved back to the south west of Scotland. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has stated that she feels the Church is still influential in Scottish life. If you are talking about the singer Shakira, yes she is Roman. We can't bind our successors, but we've made very clear our belief that constitutional referenda are once-in-a-generation events. [58] Sturgeon told the Scottish Parliament that containment of the virus had failed and that the Scottish Government was taking steps to mitigate the spread of the virus. According to one poll, just 31% of non Catholics backed independence compared with no less than 57% of Catholics. [276] She described the Queen as the "greatest constant in our national life" and added her death was a day for reflection and remembrance" and "a day for giving thanks to The Queen for her devotion to duty and the decades of public service she gave to the people of Scotland.[277][278], She has at times been a critic of austerity, saying that the UK government's "austerity economics" is "morally unjustifiable and economically unsustainable". On Salmond's resignation, Sturgeon said: The personal debt of gratitude I owe Alex is immeasurable. [297][298], In the 2021 SNP manifesto, Sturgeon committed the party once again to reform the Gender Recognition Act[233] and in August that year included the commitment in her agreement with the Scottish Greens on power-sharing. Following the 2017 UK general election, Nicola Sturgeon announced that the Scottish Government would postpone legislation pertaining to the proposed second referendum on Scottish independence until at least autumn 2018. She has served as a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) since 1999, first as an additional member for the Glasgow electoral region, and as the member for Glasgow Southside (formerly Glasgow Govan) from 2007. Nicola Sturgeon is the current (2015) First Minister. It has been supplanted by left-wing agitators, celebrities, mocking comedians and restless academics and journalists. [236], Sturgeon has campaigned against replacing the Trident nuclear weapons system. [256], While foreign policy remains a reserved matter,[257] Sturgeon has undertaken a number of visits to Europe, North America and Asia to promote Scotland as a place of investment and Scottish businesses to trade and do business with. "[98], Sturgeon began making appointments to her first cabinet on 21 November 2014, beginning with the appointment of finance secretary John Swinney to become her Deputy First Minister. [267], Sturgeon had previously stripped Trump of his ambassadorial role for Scottish businesses with the Scottish Government in the aftermath of Trump's views of an outright ban of Muslims from entering the United States. [citation needed], Sturgeon attended Dreghorn Primary School from 1975 to 1982 and Greenwood Academy from 1982 to 1988. [25] Although she failed to win the seat, she was placed first in the SNP's regional list for the Glasgow region, and was thus elected as a Member of the Scottish Parliament. [157][158][159] Subsequently the restrictions were repeatedly tightened, loosened and adapted in parts or all of Scotland in response to developments in the situation. [222][223], On the day the Supreme Court ruled the Scottish Parliament does not have the power to legislate a referendum on independence, Sturgeon announced the next democratic election in Scotland, in this case a UK general election expected to be held in 2024, would be campaigned by the SNP as a de facto referendum. Michael Matheson was promoted asjustice secretary. This included rows over the House of Commons' decision to replace the Trident nuclear weapon system, and the SNP's plans to replace council tax in Scotland with a local income tax. Immediately after the referendum he released an embarrassingly toadying statement praising Alex Salmond and then welcomed the new First Minister Nicola Sturgeon with unprecedented over-eagerness . Early life and political career "[155], In April 2022 Sturgeon demanded that Prime Minister Boris Johnson resign after police fined him for breaking lockdown rules in 2020. Quite A Scoop! [279] However, in 2018 she endorsed her party's Growth Commission report that pledged to reduce an independent Scotland's budget deficit as a percentage of GDP[280] something the Institute for Fiscal Studies concluded meant "continued austerity". Speaking at the annual Cardinal Winning Lecture at the University of . There was, however, significant public opposition to repeal and an unscientific postal vote on the issue organised by SNP donor Brian Souter suggested most Scots wanted to keep the clause. This means that Catholic electoral areas can expect to see divisions in the UK and Scottish elections of 2015 and 2016. [47] She reversed the decision to close casualty units at University Hospital Ayr and University Hospital Monklands. The previous leader, Alex Salmond, announced at the time that he would not stand. The SNP won 48 seats, and came second place in the 11 others; their 45% of the vote yielded 80% of the seats in Scotland. And many in Sturgeons party have rather different views from Archbishops Tartaglia in Glasgow and Cushley in Edinburgh about when the sacredness of human life begins and ends and how far the state should micro-manage the individual. [112] Sturgeon also hinted if re-elected she would hold a second referendum on Scottish independence. Following the referendum defeat, Sturgeon said that "further devolution is the route to independence". Scotland would then have to reapply for EU membership and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso predicted this would be "extremely difficult, if not impossible". [39][40] Although the SNP was recognised as the winners of the election, it failed to obtain a majority and Labour was not willing to allow the SNP to enter government. The Catholic church has long ceased to be an effective opinion former a charge that could equally be levelled at most denominations, of course. The SNP emerged as the largest party following the 2007 election and Salmond headed the first SNP minority government, with Sturgeon as his Deputy First Minster. [30], However, once Cunningham emerged as the favourite to win,[30] Salmond announced his intention to stand for the leadership; Sturgeon subsequently withdrew from the contest and declared her support for Salmond, standing instead as his running mate for the depute leadership. [48] Sturgeon oversaw the scrapping of prescription charges In Scotland, an election pledge by the SNP originally for the chronically ill and those with cancer. [14], Sturgeon was a quiet child and has been described by her younger sister as "the sensible one" of the two. [251] Annemarie Ward, chief executive at the FAVOR Scotland charity, said: "Nicola Sturgeon said she would make it her national mission to save lives - but were still losing more than 1000 people a year. He spelled out the risks of partitioning Britain with so little elementary homework having been done. List of current heads of government in the United Kingdom, Deputy First Minister of Scotland (20072014), Leadership of the Scottish National Party, Criticism of Boris Johnson administration. She was the Scottish National Party (SNP) Leader until her resignation on February 15 . [89], Sturgeon was formally acclaimed as the first female Leader of the SNP on 14 November 2014 at the Autumn Conference in Perth, with Hosie as her depute. Sturgeon will remain in office until a successor is chosen. The First Minister responded to questions from Douglas Ross, following a report in the Times that Scotland would have to join the euro if it wished to be a member of the European Union. [149] Among the election casualties was Liberal Democrats leader Jo Swinson, who lost her seat in East Dunbartonshire. Jobs became less scarce as the state became a major employer. [217] She asked Scotland's Lord Advocate to consider referring the matter to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom to rule if the Scottish Government has the power to host a referendum without the Government of the United Kingdom's approval, this request has since been granted. There have been questions going around saying is Nicola Sturgeon lesbian. In June 2017, Sturgeon criticised the approaches taken by both Theresa May and the British Government towards the Brexit approach, claiming that May "will struggle" as she is a "difficult person to build a rapport with". A second example would be the Named Person Act, which requires every Scottish child up to age 18 to have a guardian appointed by the state to huge opposition from churches including the Catholics. I hated everything she stood for. [citation needed]. Sturgeon apologised for being overexcited although expressed that she was celebrating Amy Callaghan's win.