Don’t call Sturgeon a ‘nippy sweetie’

Scottish National Party (SNP) Leader Nicola Sturgeon has been the breakout star of the British election campaign. Polls suggest her party is doing so well it could take every seat in Scotland, potentially casting her in a kingmaker role. The National Post

SHE JOINED THE SNP AT 16

1 Sturgeon was born in Irvine, Scotland, in 1970 to SNP-voting parents, and as a young teenager took up the cause of nuclear disarmament (one she maintains to this day). When she was 16, a high school English teacher noticed her interest in politics and gave her a Labour party membership application, but Sturgeon had other ideas. “That was the catalyst,” she says. “I thought: ‘Stuff you, I’m going to join the SNP.’ “

SHE LOST HER FIRST

SEVEN ELECTIONS

2 Political activity came early for Sturgeon, but electoral victory did not. She was the youngest candidate in the 1992 general election, but lost handily. In 1992, 1994 and 1995 she failed to win seats on local councils, then lost again in the 1997 general election. Attempts to win election to the Scottish Parliament in 1999 and 2003 also ended in defeat, but she became a member of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 by virtue of Scotland’s “Lucky Loser” rule, which allows parties to appoint some losing candidates to Parliament. Finally, in 2007, she unseated Labour in the riding of Govan, prompting the SNP to make her deputy leader. After Alex Salmond stepped down following defeat in the independence referendum in September, 2014, Sturgeon took the party leadership unopposed.

SHE HAS WORKED TO SOFTEN HER IMAGE

3 Sturgeon’s instinctive abilities as a politician have never been doubted, even by her enemies, but long before her elevation to the top of Scottish politics she realized she had a major problem with her image. While she has described herself as “kind and loyal,” others have referred to her as intense, ruthless, cold and even scary. So began what The Scotsman dubbed “Project Nicola,” or “Project Human Being” as some detractors cruelly called it. The SNP’s most famous member, Sir Sean Connery, told her to stand up straight so she would seem taller on television and even gave her voice coaching to soften her tone. The transformation has helped broaden her appeal: Following the leaders’ debates, Sturgeon registered the highest approval rating of any party leader.

no gender bar to strong leadership

4 Sturgeon’s ascension has made her the most powerful female political figure in the U.K. since Thatcher and she takes her role as a feminist trailblazer seriously. “In Scotland in 2014, there is no glass ceiling on ambition,” Sturgeon declared after taking over from Salmond. In a speech to her alma mater, the University of Glasgow, in February, she addressed her reputation for being a “nippy sweetie,” the Glaswegian slang for a sharp-tongued woman, a label referenced in just about every profile written about her. “A strong assertive woman was seen as a nippy sweetie whereas in a man it would’ve been fantastic, strong leadership,” she reportedly told the gathering. Sturgeon has put her ideals into practice: Her 10-person cabinet is divided equally along gender lines.