Sturgeon-I Will Remain In Office Until Successor Picked

Delivering her resignation speech, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirms that she will remain in office until a successor as head of the SNP and therefore FM has been selected. Says that 'By stepping down, I free the SNP to choose the path it believes is the right one...We need to solidify support for Scottish independence."

• Almost mirroring the resignation speech of then-New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in January, Sturgeon states that the job has taken a toll on her that she no longer wishes to bear.
• Focus will now turn to the party's leadership contest. There has not been a contested SNP leadership vote since 2004 (Sturgeon was elected unopposed in 2014). At end-2021 the SNP had 100k members.
• Following theSupreme Court ruling in Nov 2022 that stated the Scottish Parliament does not have the unilateral powers to call an independence referendum, the paths to a legal (rather than illegal wildcat) referendum have been reduced significantly. This in turn could push the next first minister to have to focus more on domestic rather than independence issues on coming to office.