FM: Who got me into politics? Maggie

Nicola Sturgeon has revealed her unlikely political inspiration – Margaret Thatcher.

The First Minister yesterday told how the policies pursued by the former Tory prime minister charged her passion for politics.

She told the Guardian how she “owes it all to Margaret Thatcher”.

“When Thatcher became Prime Minister, I was nine years old and I remember, through the 1980s, when her policies were doing such damage to the community I grew up in and working-class communities across Scotland,” she said.

“Itwasmyangerat that that really sparked my interest and shaped the politics I have today. So I probably owe it all to Margaret Thatcher.”

The First Minister also said she hoped the presidency of Donald Trump would do the same in the US.

She added: “I like to think across America there’s a younger generation being inspired in the same way, by a certain incumbent of the White House.”