After Nicola Sturgeon’s shock resignation the race to become next SNP leader gets under way
The race to replace Nicola Sturgeon as Scotland’s first minister is now under way – but nobody has officially thrown their hat into the ring yet.
Ms Sturgeon announced her resignation during a press conference in Edinburgh at her official residence, Bute House, on Tuesday.
The 52-year-old said it had been “the very best job in the world”, but that she believed part of “serving well would be to know almost instinctively when the time is right” to step down.
Speaking to reporters, the longest serving and first woman first minister confirmed she would stay in post until somebody else takes over and remain as an MSP until at least the next Holyrood election.
The attention now turns to who will become Ms Sturgeon’s successor as leader of the SNP, which she has been at the helm of since 2014.
The party will announce the process for electing a new leader over the coming days.
In her resignation speech, Ms Sturgeon said her party has an “array of talent” ready to follow her.
Early possible contenders to become her successor include current deputy leader of the SNP Keith Brown, the SNP’s finance and economy secretary Kate Forbes, the party’s current constitution, culture and external affairs secretary Angus Robertson, the SNP’s health secretary Humza Yousaf and Scotland’s current deputy first minister John Swinney.
The SNP’s newly elected Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, who replaced Ian Blackford following his resignation, appeared to rule himself out of the contest on Wednesday evening.
He told Sky News he was “not interested” in becoming the leader of the SNP, adding: “It’s my firm view – and I’ve made this clear in a few interviews today – it is my strong view that the next leader of our party should have the ability to serve as the first minister of Scotland.
“Therefore, it’s incumbent upon one of my excellent colleagues at Holyrood to step forward and to become the next leader of the SNP and the next prime minister in Scotland.”
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A look back at Nicola Sturgeon’s career
As an MP and not a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP), Mr Flynn could currently only replace Ms Sturgeon as SNP leader – and not as Scotland’s first minister.
But there is precedent for an MP to lead a Scottish party after Douglas Ross took over as head of the Scottish Tories in 2020.
Mr Ross’s predecessor, Ruth Davidson, deputised for him at First Minister’s Questions before he was able to take a seat in the Scottish Parliament himself at the 2021 election.
The SNP’s president Michael Russell said the race to replace Ms Sturgeon will be a “contested” election and that the party’s national executive committee will meet soon to discuss a timetable for the leadership race.
Ms Sturgeon’s resignation follows a series of political challenges in recent months as her government sought to push through gender reforms, only for them to be blocked by Westminster.
She insisted the row surrounding a transgender double rapist being sent to a women’s jail “wasn’t the final straw”.
Read more:
How she survived ‘cesspit of vipers’ but failed to achieve dream
The controversies which piled pressure on Sturgeon
SNP MP Joanna Cherry, a long-standing critic of the gender recognition reforms, called for “reform and healing” in her party, and asked for it to react to the resignation of Ms Sturgeon in “a way that is beneficial to the country and the cause of independence”.
She also called for a “neutral caretaker CEO” to take over from Ms Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell.
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Rishi Sunak thanks Nicola Sturgeon
Further afield, a former US president bid Ms Sturgeon “good riddance” to a “failed woke extremist”.
Donald Trump said in a statement: “Good riddance to failed woke extremist Nicola Sturgeon of Scotland!
“This crazed leftist symbolizes everything wrong with identity politics.
“Sturgeon thought it was okay to put a biological man in a women’s prison, and if that wasn’t bad enough, Sturgeon fought for a ‘Gender Recognition Reform Bill’ that would have allowed 16-year-old children to change their gender without medical advice.
“I built the greatest golf properties in the world in Scotland, but she fought me all the way, making my job much more difficult.
“The wonderful people of Scotland are much better off without Sturgeon in office!”
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Meanwhile, following the announcement of Ms Sturgeon’s departure, tennis star Sir Andy Murray posted a tweet saying: “Interesting vacancy. Was looking to get into politics when I finish playing.”
Alongside both a winking and a laughing emoji, Ms Sturgeon jokingly replied: “I know I said I wouldn’t endorse anyone as my successor, but….”
The fast-moving developments on Trump’s Ukraine peace deal are dominating the G20 summit in South Africa, as European leaders scramble to put together a counter-proposal to the US-Russia 28-point plan and reinsert Ukraine into these discussions.
European countries are now working up proposals to put to President Trump ahead of his deadline of Thursday to agree a deal.
Ukraine is in a tight spot. It cannot reject Washington outright – it relies on US military support to continue this war – but neither can it accept the terms of a deal that is acutely favourable to Russia, requiring Ukraine to give up territory not even occupied by Moscow and reducing its army.
Overnight, the UK government has reiterated its position that any deal must deliver a “just and lasting peace”.
Ukraine war latest: Kyiv to discuss ending war in talks in Switzerland
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Keir Starmer calls for growth plan at G20
The prime minister, who spoke with E3 allies President Macron of France, Chancellor Merz of Germany and President Zelenskyy of Ukraine on the phone on Friday, is having more conversations today with key partners as they work out how to handle Trump and improve this deal for Ukraine.
One diplomatic source told me allies are being very careful not to criticise Trump or his approach for fear of exacerbating an already delicate situation.
Instead, the prime minister is directing his attacks at Russia.
Read more:
Trump’s 28-point Ukraine peace plan in full
Analysis: We could all pay if Europe doesn’t guarantee Ukraine’s security
Prime Minister Keir Starmer attends a plenary session on the first day of the G20 Leaders’ Summit. Pic: Reuters
“There is only one country around the G20 table that is not calling for a ceasefire in Ukraine and one country that is deploying a barrage of drones and missiles to destroy livelihoods and murder innocent civilians,” he said on Friday evening.
“Time and again, Russia pretends to be serious about peace, but its actions never live up to its words.”
Pic: AP
On the Trump plan, the prime minister said allies are meetin on Saturday “to discuss the current proposal on the table, and in support of Trump’s push for peace, look at how we can strengthen this plan for the next phase of negotiations”.
Strengthening the plan really means that they want to rebalance it towards Ukraine’s position and make it tougher on Russia.
“Ukraine has been ready to negotiate for months, while Russia has stalled and continued its murderous rampage. That is why we must all work together with both the US and Ukraine, to secure a just and lasting peace once and for all,” said the prime minister.
“We will continue to coordinate closely with Washington and Kyiv to achieve that. However, we cannot simply wait for peace.
“We must strain every sinew to secure it. We must cut off Putin’s finance flows by ending our reliance on Russian gas. It won’t be easy, but it’s the right thing to do.”
Pic: AP
Europeans hadn’t even seen this deal earlier in the week, in a sign that the US is cutting other allies out of negotiations – for now at least.
Starmer and other European leaders want to get to a position where Ukraine and Europe are at least at the table.
There is some discussion about whether European leaders such as Macron and Meloni might travel to Washington to speak to Trump early next week in order to persuade him of the European and Ukrainian perspective, as leaders did last August following the US-Russian summit in Alaska.
But Sky News understands there are no discussions about the PM travelling to Washington next week ahead of the budget.
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