Holyrood bubble (including me) in a state of shock
◆ Alistair Grant’s day took an unforgettable turn as it became clear First Minister was standing down
Iwas taking my car for its MOT in Dunfermline when an email dropped at 9.14am
It’s fair to say Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation one year ago today came as something of a shock to the Holyrood bubble.
I was taking my car for its MOT in Dunfermline on the day when an email dropped at 9.14am announcing an unscheduled press conference.
I immediately rang a figure close to the former first minister. “How big a deal is this?” I asked, as I considered whether to go ahead with my appointment.
“Get on a train to Edinburgh,” they replied. “I’m not messing you about – get on a train to Edinburgh.”
I cancelled the MOT and rushed – safely, within the speed limit – back over the Queensferry Crossing and straight into The Scotsman’s office, which was then on George Street.
By this point, the nature of the press conference had become clear. It was the big one.
The end of the Sturgeon era had long been a topic for columnists to mull over, but few had seen it coming on that particular Wednesday morning.
A source close to Ms Sturgeon later told me discussions about her future had been taking place “off and on” for some months.
“Over the last couple of months, it’s been a bit more of a serious conversation, and over the last few weeks increasingly so,” they said.
Things had “crystallised” over the preceding weekend. “She tried the idea on for size and found that it fitted,” they added.
As I frantically made my way back to Edinburgh, my colleague, Conor Matchett, had sorted a seat in Bute House, the first minister’s official residence in Edinburgh, where Ms Sturgeon would soon address the nation. He would witness history firsthand.
Meanwhile, I organised our coverage from back in the office. Together, we probably wrote thousands of words over the course of that day, while also recording a video conversation that would later be turned into a podcast. Such is the nature of a modern newsroom.
It was an exhilarating day that changed the course of Scottish political history. Little did we know the shocks were just beginning.