Is Nicola set to exit stage lef t?
In a half-empty auditorium at the Fringe, Sturgeon hints she may step down as First Minister before next election
NICOLA Sturgeon has signalled she may step down as First Minister ahead of the next election.
Speaking to a half-empty auditorium at an event at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe yesterday, she said she would decide ‘nearer the time’ whether or not to continue in her job.
Miss Sturgeon said she would need to see if she still had the ‘energy’ and ‘appetite’ for the job.
The SNP leader would mark her 12th year as First Minister if she remains in post for the 2026 Holyrood election.
Asked about comments by Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex ColeHamilton that her heart was not really in it any more and she was only pushing for an independence referendum ‘as red meat to her base to keep everybody marching’, Miss Sturgeon insisted it was ‘nonsense’. But she said it would be foolish to guarantee she would keep doing the job by the time of the next election.
Speaking to broadcaster Iain Dale, she said: ‘Who in this room can say with 100 per cent certainty what we’ll be doing four years from now?
‘The default position is that of course I’ll fight the next election, but I will make a judgment on that nearer the time.
‘This is a serious job and anybody in a job like this owes it to the public to make sure that they’re the right person to do it, that they’ve got the energy to do it, that they’ve got the appetite, that they’re prepared to make the enormous commitment that a job like this involves, and to constantly be assessing and reassessing that.
‘That’s important, and I will try my best to do that.’
At Mr Dale’s All Talk show at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, Miss Sturgeon said she remained up for the challenge of contesting a second independence referendum or fighting the next Westminster election as a ‘de facto referendum’.
She rejected claims by opponents that she was ‘just waiting for the right time to chuck it, to stand down and to move onto some grand international job’. Miss Sturgeon added: ‘It’s wishful thinking on their part. I’ve been First Minister now for almost eight years and I’ve fought and won as leader of my party eight elections.
‘So you can see why people like Alex Cole-Hamilton would like me to stand down and not be up for the fight any more.
‘But I’m up for the challenge. It is really, really important for Scotland
to be independent, though, so we are no longer taken in the wrong direction by that bunch down in Westminster that we don’t vote for.’
Responding to the comments, Mr Cole-Hamilton said: ‘Nicola Sturgeon has served a long time at the top, I’m sure no one would blame her for walking away.
‘Scotland needs a First Minister who is totally committed to tackling the cost of living crisis, helping our NHS recover from the pandemic and making Scottish education the best in the world again. It’s clear that is never going to be Nicola Sturgeon.’
Miss Sturgeon also disclosed she does not think she will ever speak to her mentor and former friend Alex Salmond again.
Addressing the festival audience, she said she had not spoken to her predecessor since the pair dramatically fell out after sexual misconduct claims against him became public.
Mr Salmond was found not guilty of 12 charges of sexual assault and a jury returned a not proven verdict on a further allegation of sexual assault with intent to rape.
The former first minister successfully took the Scottish Government to court over its bungled and unlawful investigation of him, receiving £512,000 of public money in costs.
Asked by Mr Dale if she had spoken to Mr Salmond in the past three years, Miss Sturgeon said: ‘Nope.’ Pressed if she thought she ever would speak to him, she again replied: ‘Nope.’
Since their acrimonious fallingout, Mr Salmond has set up the Alba party and has been a vocal critic of his successor’s approach to trying to break up the UK.