[36], In the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, Sturgeon defeated Gordon Jackson QC[a] with a 4.7% swing to the SNP in the Glasgow Govan constituency. [246] Per head, Scotland's death rate among the homeless is the highest in Britain. [64], At the 2011 election, the SNP won a large overall majority. "[177][178][179], Sturgeon led the SNP into the 2021 Scottish Parliament election on a manifesto promise to hold a second independence referendum after the COVID-19 pandemic was over. Following the referendum defeat, Sturgeon said that "further devolution is the route to independence". [101] Roseanna Cunningham, who had difficult relationship with Sturgeon, was surprisingly promoted to cabinet as the fair work secretary. Sturgeon grew up in Prestwick and in the village of Dreghorn, in a terraced council house, which her parents bought through the right-to-buy scheme. "[252], In 2015, Sturgeon said that she planned to make education her "defining priority" while in office. [80] She also opined that Scottish independence was a matter of "when, not if". [216] She sought the Prime Minister to consent to the vote by signing a section 30 order, a move that Downing Street has refused to comply. [15] Sturgeon was a fan of Wham! [81], On 24 September 2014, Sturgeon officially launched her campaign bid to succeed Salmond as Leader of the Scottish National Party at the November leadership election. The defeat of the Yes Scotland campaign in the referendum resulted in the resignation of Salmond as leader of the SNP and first minister. [45], Sturgeon served as Health Secretary in Salmond's first, and for a year, in his second cabinet. [202][203][204], Sturgeon told the Scottish Parliament of her "deep regret" that islanders were enduring such chaos and said that the Government was "learning lessons from this experience". [307][308] In July 2019, the prime minister met Sturgeon at her official residence, Bute House, where Johnson was "booed and heckled" by protesters. dez 17, 2021 Categories : 1994 donruss leaf baseball cards Author: First Past The Post is a "plurality" voting system: the candidate who wins the most votes in each constituency is elected. [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. [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. [citation needed], Sturgeon attended Dreghorn Primary School from 1975 to 1982 and Greenwood Academy from 1982 to 1988. [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. The worldwide pandemic of COVID-19 began during Sturgeon's second term as First Minister. It's as simple as that', "Scots are not becoming more conservative: three factors behind the Tory 'revival' in North East Scotland", "Nicola Sturgeon puts Scottish independence referendum bill on hold", "Nicola Sturgeon refuses to abandon indy ref 2 and promises new timetable in 2018", "Sturgeon refers herself to ethics body over actions in Salmond case", "Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints", "Alex Salmond says there is 'no doubt' Nicola Sturgeon broke ministerial code", "Alex Salmond inquiry likely to recall SNP chief exec and Nicola Sturgeon's husband Peter Murrell", "MSPs bid to recall SNP chief Peter Murrell to Salmond inquiry", "Team Sturgeon breathes a sigh of relief", "Alex Salmond complainers claim government 'dropped' them", "The SNP mess has left me flabbergasted what kind of message does it send? Jim Justice said as he signed the bill, surrounded by more than two dozen state lawmakers, members of the National Rifle Association, and the West Virginia Citizens Defense League. His then-depute, Roseanna Cunningham, immediately announced her intention to stand for the leadership. Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon (born 19 July 1970) is a Scottish politician serving as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) since 2014. 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. On 24 June, Sturgeon said she would communicate to all EU member states that Scotland had voted to stay in the EU. "Based on this experience, Health Protection Scotland has expressed the view that sustained community transmission appears to be taking place. Michael Matheson was promoted asjustice secretary. After qualifying as a solicitor, she worked for Bell & Craig, a firm of solicitors in Stirling, and later at the Drumchapel Law Centre and a Money Advice Centre in Glasgow from 1997 until her election to the Scottish Parliament in 1999. This win resulted in Sturgeon becoming the first First Minister in the history of the Scottish Parliament to form a third government. Nicola Sturgeon Announces Funding Agreement For Scotland Women's Football Team / Jeff J Mitchell/GettyImages Like her Lib Dem counterpart, Nicola Sturgeon has also swerved controversy. | Jess Phillips", "Election 2019: the result in Scotland in numbers", "Nicola Sturgeon filmed celebrating Jo Swinson's defeat to SNP's Amy Callaghan video", "Nicola Sturgeon: 'I got overexcited' in reaction to Jo Swinson loss", "Nicola Sturgeon branded 'ungracious' after celebrating Jo Swinson losing her seat", "Nicola Sturgeon tips East Dunbartonshire's Amy Callaghan to be one of the stars of the Commons", "Sturgeon: PM has 'no right' to block Indyref2", "Nicola Sturgeon admits Scotland would have been in lockdown earlier if she 'could turn the clock back', "Coronavirus: Schools in Scotland and Wales to close from Friday BBC News", "Prime Minister's statement on coronavirus (COVID-19): 23 March 2020", "UK coronavirus: Boris Johnson announces strict lockdown across country as it happened", "Coronavirus: Nicola Sturgeon says new rules amount to 'lockdown' BBC News", "Timeline of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland", "Covid in Scotland: Government 'failed' social care sector during pandemic", "SNP Health Minister admits covid mistake in transferring patients to care homes", "Ministers' Covid error 'turned care homes into morgues', "Covid in Scotland: 'Mistake' to discharge Covid patients says Sturgeon", "Whistleblower: Nurses forced to reuse and share single-use PPE", "Coronavirus: Nicola Sturgeon defends PPE record after we revealed pre-pandemic warnings", "Covid-19: Should the UK be aiming for elimination? Theater of popular music. [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. The down side is that you just end up talking about it all the time and you never leave it outside. [145], On 4 March 2021, Sturgeon answered questions over a period of eight hours from members of the committee. [126] May's comments confirmed that the PM wanted the Scottish government to be "fully engaged" in the process. "Proud day for me," Republican Gov. By Alan Young 31st Jul 2022, 9:40am England's highly-anticipated. [171], In April 2021 Scotland's death toll from COVID-19 passed 10,000. [100], The departure of Kenny MacAskill and Michael Russell signalled a generational shift away from the 79 group. [167], In February 2021 Audit Scotland published a report that concluded the Scottish Government had not prepared adequately for a pandemic. [168][169], In March 2021, the Court of Session declared that the Scottish Government's prohibition on communal worship, imposed during the pandemic, was unlawful. West Virginia's governor signed a bill Wednesday allowing people with concealed carry permits to take firearms onto public college and university campuses. Nicola Sturgeon's announcement of her resignation as first minister on Wednesday signalled the departure of a leader viewed by some as the most important figure of the devolution era - and . NICOLA Sturgeon would be humiliated if she forced another divisive referendum on Scotland - as support for independence has plummeted and Scots would vote to stay in. [16][17], In her early teens, Sturgeon joined the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and in 1986, at the age of 16, she became a member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), quickly becoming the party's Youth Affairs Vice Convener and Publicity Vice Convener. [253] In particular, she said she hoped to focus on closing the attainment gap between the richest and poorest children in Scottish schools, telling journalists: "Let me be clear I want to be judged on this. The national mission is failing. Labour refused to support the bill as they claimed it failed to tackle windfall profit from alcohol retailers. It is a scar on the conscience of this Scottish Government. [322][323][324][325] It followed her party's unprecedented landslide victory in the 2015 general election, which questioned the future of the union. [107] As part of the election campaign, Sturgeon indicated that the SNP would hold another independence referendum if it won the upcoming 2016 Scottish Parliament election. 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". [] I can think of no greater privilege than to seek to lead the party I joined when I was just 16. 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. Sturgeon kicked off her election campaign pledging that a strong result for the SNP would "reinforce" her mandate for a second independence referendum. "[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. "[254], In 2021, Audit Scotland concluded that, "Progress on closing the poverty-related attainment gap between the most and least deprived school pupils has been limited"[255] and fell short of the Government's aims. [77][78][79] Sturgeon said that there would be "no greater privilege" than to lead the SNP. [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. The SNP continued to enjoy this electoral success throughout Sturgeon's eight years in office. [185] As part of the agreement, the Green Party co-leaders would be nominated to serve as ministers. [247], In August 2021 the Scottish Government announced there had been 1,339 drug deaths in the previous year a new record high. She launched her programme for government, the Better Health, Better Care: Action Plan, which settled a new vision for NHS Scotland. [160], During the early stages of the pandemic 1,300 elderly hospital patients were transferred into care homes without receiving a negative coronavirus test result. [18][19][20], In an interview with the BBC's Woman's Hour, Sturgeon revealed that it was Margaret Thatcher who inspired her to enter politics, because, due to rising unemployment in Scotland at the time, she developed "a strong feeling that it was wrong for Scotland to be governed by a Tory government that we hadn't elected". 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". Both were subsequently elected, and as Salmond was still an MP in the British House of Commons, Sturgeon led the SNP in the Scottish Parliament as Leader of the Opposition from 2004 to 2007. She also promised to hold a monthly Facebook question and answer session with members of the public, regular town hall meetings and that the Scottish Cabinet would meet outside Edinburgh once every two months. Overall 52% of voters in the United Kingdom voted for Brexit (leaving the EU), with 48% voting to remain. There was no agreement on oil and gas exploration, but the government now argued that it had a stronger case for a national independence referendum. [12] Her family has some roots in North East England; her paternal grandmother, Margaret Sturgeon (ne Mill), was from Ryhope in what is now the City of Sunderland. [42] Ultimately, Salmond formed a minority government and he was appointed First Minister of Scotland. [130] Previously, May and David Mundell, Secretary of State for Scotland, had both highlighted that as the negotiations began with the European Union on the United Kingdom's withdraw, it was important for Scotland to work with the UK Government to get the best exit deal for both the United Kingdom and Scotland, stating that "now is not the time for another referendum".[131]. [citation needed] During her time at the University of Glasgow she was active as a member of the Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association and the Glasgow University Students' Representative Council. [85][86], Nominations for the SNP leadership closed on 15 October, with Sturgeon confirmed as the only candidate. [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. [68], While campaigning for a Yes vote in August 2013, she told The Guardian that if Scots voted for the Union: "Will there be another referendum round the corner? The FM said: "Later today, the Public Health Minister will support the resumption of competitive football in Scottish Leagues 1 and 2, the Scottish Women's Premier League 1 and - for the . "[54] The following day, she confirmed that these were cases of the swine influenza A (H1N1) virus. I owe the Daily Mail big time for that', "Most dangerous woman in Britain or Queen of Scotland? On 17 January 2023, the UK Government decided to implement a section 35 order of the Scottish Act 1998 which prevented the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from gaining Royal Assent. [150][151][152][153] In the wake of the results, Sturgeon said that Prime Minister Boris Johnson had "no right" to stand in the way of another Scottish independence referendum after an "overwhelming" SNP election victory. 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