By George Nicola’s dedication is remarkable
Last week was a whirlwind for me following the First Minister’s press conference last Wednesday where she announced her decision to step down from the top job.
Nicola Sturgeon has been our First Minister for 8 years, in Government for 15, and an MSP in the Scottish Parliament since its inception in 1999, and in all that time she has been a exemplary politician and leader whose dedication to our country has been second to none.
I had the pleasure of first meeting Nicola Sturgeon in my late teens when I joined the SNP and began my own journey in the field that has shaped my life.
There is a year of an age difference between us and I often joked with her that she is the elder of us both - it is of course me - but we have been part of the SNP family for as long as I can remember and I’m privileged to have such a long and positive relationship with someone who has inspired such dedication and change across our country.
Following our early days campaigning as teens, we worked together as activists during difficult times for the SNP in our twenties and then again as MSPs in our Scottish Parliament when I was first elected Paisley’s MSP in 2011.
Despite being involved in politics from a very young age, there are two days in my political career that I would say are my proudest.
The first is probably an obvious one - the day the people of our town elected me as Paisley’s MSP and I joined the benches of our national Parliament as your representative.
But the second one was the day our First Minister invited me to St Andrew’s House and asked me to serve our country as Minister for Parliamentary Business.
While you all know being your MSP is the greatest job I will ever have, it was also the honour of a lifetime to be chosen by Nicola Sturgeon to join the Scottish Government and work closely with her once again to bring about the best Scotland we possibly can.
While I think it goes without saying that I am personally devastated by her decision to resign, I respect her reasons in reaching that decision and am once again bowled over by her dedication to our country and our shared goals.
Nicola Sturgeon has given her all for Scotland and our people and has shown us a better way for our country so her brave choice to step down upon recognising that she can no longer give the 110 per cent she has been giving since 2014 only emphasises how remarkable a leader she truly is.
As she said in her statement on Wednesday, it’s important to know when to step back so despite my sadness at her resignation, Nicola Sturgeon is nothing if not astutely dedicated to what is right and I trust her judgement wholeheartedly.
It is time for us now to look forward and continue to convince the people of Scotland of the better, independent tomorrow our First Minister has dedicated her life to, and to do anything different would do Nicola’s legacy a disservice.
The world needs more Nicola Sturgeons and I will use the rest of my career to try and live up to her remarkable standards.