Category Archives: Nicola Sturgeon

SNP looks to unity candidate after Humza Yousaf quits as first minister

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John Swinney emerges as favourite to become leader of party hit by series of damaging crises

Humza Yousaf has quit as Scotland’s first minister to clear the way for a new leader capable of giving the Scottish National party stability after a series of damaging crises.

During a dramatic day largely orchestrated by party managers, Yousaf announced he would step down as first minister just as a veteran former leader, John Swinney, quickly emerged as the favourite to succeed him.

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Tearful Sturgeon said the number of lives lost during the pandemic was ‘far too high’ – as it happened

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Sturgeon once again says she wants to be “very clear” that it was not her practice to have lengthy or detailed discussions through “these means” – a reference to WhatsApp.

“It’s not my style,” she insists.

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Sturgeon admits errors in handling of ‘incredibly stressful’ Covid pandemic

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Ex-first minister of Scotland admits to inquiry that she failed to properly record key discussions about crisis

Nicola Sturgeon has admitted failing to properly record key discussions about the Covid crisis after being pressed at the UK Covid inquiry over claims some decisions were too centralised and secretive.

The former first minister, who led Scotland’s response to the pandemic, pushed back tears when she admitted she found the pressure of crisis “incredibly stressful”, and at times wished she had not been in charge.

An admission that crucial discussions with her closest advisers during private “gold command” meetings should have been recorded.

She regretted not telling people about Scotland’s first outbreak, involving 38 cases linked to a Nike conference in Edinburgh in March 2020, as that “had the potential to undermine public confidence”.

She acknowledged she should not have promised journalists in August 2021 that all her WhatsApp messages would be kept, knowing she had been systematically deleting them.

It was inappropriate for her to give the public health expert Devi Sridhar her private SNP email address.

She “thought wrongly” that her chief medical officer, Catherine Calderwood, could remain in post after admitting she breached lockdown rules by visiting her holiday home.

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Nicola Sturgeon regarded Boris Johnson as ‘a clown’ because of his handling of Covid, inquiry learns – UK politics live

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Former Scotland first minister used expletives in private messages about former UK PM’s handling of pandemic

At the Covid inquiry hearing in Edinburgh Liz Lloyd, Nicola Sturgeon’s former chief of staff, was asked about her wanting a row with the UK government. (See 11.35am.)

Asked if she was looking for a spat, Lloyd replied:

I was looking for a spat with a purpose.

It had been shown in the past that they would sometimes change their mind if they felt that pressure and I wanted them to change their mind.

Sturgeon said his address was “fucking excruciating” and that the UK communications were “awful”. Sturgeon also told Lloyd: “His utter incompetence in every sense is now offending me on behalf of politicians everywhere.”

Lloyd said she was “offended” on behalf of special advisers everywhere. Sturgeon replied: “He is a fucking clown.”

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No 10 refuses to follow Cleverly in setting end of 2024 as target date for ending all small boat crossings – as it happened

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Downing Street refuses to endorse home secretary as he says his aim is to reduce number of people crossing Channel on small boats to ‘zero’. This live blog is closed

At the Downing Street lobby briefing this morning the PM’s spokesperson claimed the government had “gone further” than promised in tackling the asylum application backlog. In response to comments from Labour and others saying the legacy backlog has not been fully cleared, the spokesperson said:

We committed to clearing the backlog. That is what the government has done.

We are being very transparent about what that entails.

I said that this government would clear the backlog of asylum decisions by the end of 2023.

That’s exactly what we’ve done.

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Scotland wasting time on constitutional disputes, says thinktank

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Gordon Brown’s Our Scottish Future says reforms and investment hampered by focus on referendums

Scotland’s devolved government has been beset by poor decision-making for the past decade because of an obsession with constitutional disputes, a thinktank says.

The report, by Gordon Brown’s Our Scottish Future thinktank, which has close ties to Labour, says much-needed reforms to public services and economic investment have been hampered by short-term decision-making and an unrelenting focus on referendums and elections.

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Dominic Cummings tells Covid inquiry foul-mouthed messages about colleague weren’t misogynistic – UK politics live

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Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser denies contributing to an atmosphere of misogyny at No 10, saying he was ‘much ruder about men’

Heather Hallett, the chair, intervenes at this point. She asks Cain if he is defending the 10-day gap. She says she finds that curious if he is.

Cain says locking down the country is a huge, huge undertaking. In government terms, that is government acting at speed. But it was “longer than you would hope”, he says.

Do I understand from what you said earlier that you would defend the 10-day gap between the decision taken that there had to be a national lockdown and actually implementing that decision? Because I find that curious.

As I said, I think it is longer than you would like, but I think it’s important just to emphasise the amount of things that had to be done and the amount of people we had to take with us to deliver a nationwide lockdown.

It’s a huge, huge undertaking and to be honest, from my understanding of government, that is government moving at a tremendous speed – which maybe says more about government than other things.

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Former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon passes driving test at 53

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Ex-SNP leader says she passed first time but the challenge of learning took her well out of her comfort zone

Nicola Sturgeon has announced on social media she has passed her driving test at the age of 53.

The former first minister of Scotland said she was successful on her first attempt. She posted a photograph of herself and Andy McFarlane, her driving instructor, on Instagram on Monday.

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‘Get a grip and listen’: Scottish voters share views as Yousaf reaches 100 days in office

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Focus group compares first minister with Sturgeon and discusses appeal of Labour as cost of living crisis continues

Scottish voters overwhelmed by the cost of living want Humza Yousaf to “get a grip and listen” to their struggles, as previous SNP supporters discuss the appeal of revitalised Scottish Labour.

As Yousaf reaches 100 days as first minister this week, members of a focus group convened by More in Common UK agree his public profile is not as strong as his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon, despite divergent views on her recent arrest.

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SNP leader says general election win would be mandate for independence push

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Humza Yousaf’s proposal in event of a victory in Scotland falls short of strategy backed by Nicola Sturgeon

Humza Yousaf has said a win in Scotland for the Scottish National party in the next general election would be a mandate to apply further pressure on Westminster for Scottish independence.

The proposal, made by the SNP leader as he addressed party members gathered in Dundee, falls short of the de facto referendum strategy favoured by his predecessor, Nicola Sturgeon.

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Search of Nicola Sturgeon’s home ‘proportionate and necessary’, says police chief

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Sir Iain Livingstone says move was not politically motivated and defends use of forensic tent outside house

Scotland’s chief constable, Sir Iain Livingstone, has said the decision to raid Nicola Sturgeon’s home in April and erect a large tent across the entrance was “proportionate and necessary.”

In an interview with the Sunday Times to mark his retirement, Livingstone denied that the move was politically motivated and said the search warrant was independently approved by a judge.

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Scottish Labour leader criticises ‘deluded’ SNP amid party donations row

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Anas Sarwar tells rally in first minister’s constituency the party is rapidly losing right to govern

The Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, has accused the Scottish National party of being politically bankrupt and deceitful, as further questions emerged about Nicola Sturgeon’s role in discussions over party finances.

Sarwar told a Labour rally in Glasgow the SNP was rapidly losing its right to govern after Sturgeon’s party endured a divisive battle to succeed her as leader, followed by a series of dramatic developments in the police inquiry into SNP finances.

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Nicola Sturgeon promises full cooperation with police after husband’s arrest

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Former first minister says she ‘will get on with her job’ in statement outside Glasgow home raided by police last week

Nicola Sturgeon has pledged to “fully cooperate” with police after the arrest of her husband, the SNP’s former chief executive, during an investigation into party finances.

Speaking publicly today for the first time since Peter Murrell’s arrest, the former first minister admitted that recent days had been “obviously difficult” in a brief statement outside the couple’s Glasgow home, which police had raided three days earlier.

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No honeymoon for Humza Yousaf as byelection looms over crisis-hit SNP

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Labour is pouring resources into Rutherglen and Hamilton for expected contest that could be ‘tipping point in Scottish politics’

It was a small but deliberate act by Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s new first minister, a politician increasingly keen to distance himself from Nicola Sturgeon and one with a keen eye for symbolism.

On Thursday, for his first briefing with Holyrood’s political correspondents at Bute House, the first minister’s elegant Georgian townhouse in Edinburgh, settees had been placed in a circle in the drawing room. Gone were the regimented ranks of chairs used by Sturgeon; gone was her lectern facing the room. Yousaf provided Tunnock’s chocolate wafers, tea and coffee. This, reporters were told before they sank into the sofas, was a fireside chat.

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Sturgeon’s successor will inherit ‘mess’ of SNP at war with itself

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Key resignations, ideological conflicts and drop in membership numbers have left the SNP close to collapse

They are phrases the Scottish National party once happily used as attack lines against the Conservatives and Labour: “tremendous mess”, “unedifying” and “spectacularly wrong”.

Yet they came from the SNP’s new acting chief executive and its president, Mike Russell, and he was talking about his own party. “I think it is fair to say there is a tremendous mess and we have to clear it up,” he told the BBC on Sunday.

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Sturgeon issues warning to candidates vying to be next SNP leader

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First minister’s comments come after one contender, Kate Forbes, was accused of ‘trashing’ her own government’s record

Nicola Sturgeon has urged the three candidates vying to replace her as first minster not to lose the trust she has built with Scottish voters, as she clashed with opposition leaders after one contender, Kate Forbes, was accused of “trashing” her own government’s record.

Forbes’ description of the Scottish government – in which she serves as finance secretary – as “mediocre” during the campaign’s first televised debate on Tuesday evening resulted in a furious backlash from SNP activists and politicians.

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Hopes grow for Northern Ireland Brexit deal as Tory MPs ordered to attend Commons on Monday – as it happened

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Forbes interrupted her maternity leave following the birth of her baby daughter last summer to run to be the next SNP leader.

I want to lead Scotland into better days. I have a vested interest in achieving this, not least for the sake of my daughter’s future.

Scotland needs a leader who is bold, brave and energised. My vision centres on delivering a strong growing economy that expands the tax base and reinvests in tackling poverty and making our public services sustainable.

We need somebody competent, who voters trust, who speaks the truth, who has integrity and commitment … I’m the only candidate with a strong grip on the economy and our finances.

If anything, can be said of me in the past week it is that I am willing to be honest and open, even at the cost of my leadership bid and my career.

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SNP leadership: Humza Yousaf and Ash Regan announce plans to stand

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The Scottish health secretary and former Scottish minister enter race to replace Nicola Sturgeon

Humza Yousaf and Ash Regan have become the first candidates to officially announce plans to stand for SNP leader, while Keir Starmer is expected to urge Scottish voters on Sunday to “take another look at Labour”.

Yousaf, the Scottish health secretary, and former minister Regan announced their plans to stand in Scotland’s Sunday Mail.

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Swinney calls for end to SNP divisions after ruling himself out as leader

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Deputy first minister urges party to unite and ‘anchor SNP in mainstream of Scottish politics’

John Swinney, Scotland’s deputy first minister and one of the Scottish National party’s longest-serving senior figures, has called for the party to unite and focus on concerns of mainstream voters as he ruled himself out of the contest to replace Nicola Sturgeon.

Swinney, who is widely respected among the SNP membership and was its leader 20 years ago, said the party needed “a fresh perspective” after Sturgeon’s shock resignation on Wednesday.

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Sturgeon exit may delay new Scotland independence vote by five years

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SNP scraps conference on first minister’s proposal to use next general election as ‘de facto referendum’

Senior figures in the Scottish National party believe Nicola Sturgeon’s shock resignation could delay their effort to stage another independence referendum by at least five years.

The party’s national executive committee confirmed on Thursday evening that Sturgeon’s plan – to stage a special conference on her proposals to use the next election as a single-issue “de facto referendum” on independence – had been scrapped.

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