Latest news with #Nicola Sturgeon
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Frankly by Nicola Sturgeon: A candid, engaging memoir, although I'm not sure about her take on Irish reunification
Frankly Author : Nicola Sturgeon ISBN-13 : 978-1035040216 Publisher : Macmillan Guideline Price : £28 By the time I arrived in Edinburgh in 1998 to open the Irish Consulate there, I had spent half a lifetime studying Irish history, yet Scotland had been largely invisible to me. Anglo-Irish relations had been my perennial frame of reference. In the past three decades, Scotland has been regularly in our line of sight, due in no small part to the rise of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in which Nicola Sturgeon , a shy, awkward girl from Ayrshire in her own description, played a central role. While generally wary of political autobiographies because of their irresistible urge to burnish reputations and to be irrevocably self-regarding, I found Nicola Sturgeon's candid account of her life in politics engaging, even endearing. She is more willing than most public figures to acknowledge her own failures and frailties and even admits to suffering hangovers on account of occasional overindulgence and to having had counselling. There is an aching recollection of the loss of her baby during pregnancy and a bruising account of being subjected to nasty sexual innuendo by an unnamed party colleague shortly after her election to the Scottish Parliament in 1999. I came across Sturgeon as an up-and-coming SNP politician in the late-1990s, but she was not among those nationalists who actively cultivated links with our new Consulate. She had been tagged as 'a nippy sweetie', a curious Scottish put-down that Sturgeon saw as a badge of honour as she rose through a male-dominated environment as a protege of that alpha operator, Alex Salmond. Sturgeon is clear-eyed about the late Salmond's gifts and flaws, with his gambler's instinct but lack of attention to detail, which contrasted with her own micro-manager's approach. There were SNP members who saw Scandinavia rather than Ireland as a model for Scotland's future, but Salmond never failed to highlight the relevance of Ireland's economic emergence. He was also instrumental in convincing Scottish Catholics that the SNP had shed its erstwhile sectarian blemishes. READ MORE In Frankly , Sturgeon recalls that she became politically active as a 16-year-old and contested the 1992 Westminster election for the SNP when she was just 21. She had to steel herself to overcome limitations to which she repeatedly admits, to become Scotland's longest-serving first minister (2014-2022). Her political career was defined by referendum defeats on Scottish independence and EU membership, and by a stunning electoral triumph in 2015 when the SNP won 56 of Scotland's 59 Westminster seats. At that time, she was arguably the most popular politician in Britain. Her last years in public life were defined by an explosive falling out with Alex Salmond over charges of sexual misconduct, of which he was ultimately acquitted. There is no going easy on Salmond in her coruscating account of the bitterness between them after he accused her of being part of a conspiracy to bring him down, which she vehemently denies. Like Jacinda Ardern and Leo Varadkar, Sturgeon exited from high office unexpectedly when, at 53, she was still close to the peak of her powers, but nonetheless weary of the demands that had been placed on her, especially during Covid. She insists that her decision was not shaped by the controversy that swirled around her within weeks of stepping down as first minister, when police raided her home and arrested her husband, Peter Murrell, the SNP's general secretary, on suspicion of financial fraud. She endured the indignity of being taken in for police questioning, but action against her was subsequently dropped. [ Former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon cleared in SNP finance investigation Opens in new window ] The case against her now ex-husband, for whom she maintains an affection, remains unresolved, which makes that part of her book necessarily incomplete. Although she defends the arrangement that saw a married couple running their party between them, it is hard to believe that it was ever a good idea. Some of the details of her career may be a bit numbing for non-Scottish readers, but the transformation of that country's politics, in which she played an integral part, is a noteworthy story. I remember when the SNP was a kind of lifestyle choice for enthusiastic Scots, who belted out Dougie MacLean's anthem Caledonia at party conferences, but for whom political power was a dim dream. Buoyed by occasional by-election victories, and kept in check by serial disappointments at general election time, the SNP remained a bit player in Scottish politics. As late as 2010 under Salmond's charismatic leadership, the party captured just six seats at Westminster. Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond. There is no going easy on Salmond in her coruscating account of the bitterness between them in Frankly. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA When the Scottish Parliament was inaugurated in 1999, the SNP, some of whose members were dubious about devolution, fearing the risk of diluting demand for independence, looked set to be in permanent opposition, such was Labour's iron grip on seats on central Scotland where the bulk of the country's population resides. After the sudden death of inaugural first minister Donald Dewar, one of the architects of devolution, Labour failed to put its best foot forward in Edinburgh. I remember hearing Scottish Labour MPs deride what they saw as a make-believe parliament, while the serious business was being done at Westminster. Public disenchantment with the fruits of devolution enabled the SNP to profit from its singular focus on Scotland and the party duly took power in 2007. After almost two decades at the helm, the SNP will lose seats in next year's Scottish elections, but probably hold on to its position as the parliament's largest party. It will always be tricky for the other parties to outdo the SNP in Scottishness. As nationalists, they don't risk being seen as kowtowing to London. [ Kate Forbes's looming exit from Scottish politics clears way for SNP leadership rivals Opens in new window ] The 2014 independence referendum was an event without parallel in British history that very nearly brought about the biggest constitutional change since the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Although the final result, 55 per cent-45 per cent, may seem comfortable, the fact that almost half of the electorate wanted to unravel a 300-year-old union in the teeth of dire economic warnings was surprising. Support for independence had traditionally hovered around the 25 per cent level. Sturgeon recalls dancing a jig when she learned of a poll 10 days before referendum day suggesting that the independence option was leading by two points. That jolted the No campaign into a last-ditch onslaught which carried the day. It was a stroke of fortune for the No campaign that an emollient David Cameron was prime minister rather than a Margaret Thatcher or a Boris Johnson, whose unpopularity with Scots might have sunk the Union. David Cameron: The then UK prime minister in Edinburgh in September 2014 where he made an impassioned plea for a no vote in the independence referendum. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/WPA Pool/Getty Sturgeon acknowledges that, while her side won the emotional argument and triumphed with younger voters, its failure to provide convincing answers to the big questions about an independent Scotland's currency, its economic sustainability and its EU membership ultimately torpedoed the project. EU Commission president José Manuel Barroso had been prevailed upon by London to state that an independent Scotland would go to the back of the membership queue, a questionable proposition but clearly worrying to wavering voters nervous about the country's future. [ From the archive: Scottish independence referendum has deep implications for EU Opens in new window ] The referendum result had an unanticipated plus for Sturgeon when Salmond resigned as first minister, leaving her as his uncontested successor. Paradoxically, defeat for independence boosted public support for its proponents, who achieved unprecedented heights of electoral popularity. Frankly provides snappy assessments of political leaders with whom its author interacted. She liked Cameron, but respected Theresa May, even though she is critical of her complete unwillingness to countenance special post-Brexit arrangements for Scotland akin to what Northern Ireland ultimately achieved. Enda Kenny was likable and a 'wily character', but she had more to do with Leo Varadkar and Micheál Martin who kept in touch with her during the torturous EU-UK negotiations. She describes President Higgins as 'delightful' and 'deeply cultured', exuding 'humanity and compassion'. Martin McGuinness, with whom she developed an unlikely friendship, is given high praise for his absolute commitment to peace. Boris Johnson is dismissed as 'deeply unserious'. Nicola Sturgeon and Enda Kenny at a British Irish Council meeting in 2016. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/WPA Pool/Getty Sturgeon's last years in office were vitiated by her failure in the wake of Brexit to find a way to trigger a second independence referendum and by a debilitating political battle about gender recognition legislation which resulted in JK Rowling wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words 'Sturgeon destroyer of women's rights' which clearly hurt her deeply. Sturgeon argues that the trans issue has been successfully exploited for political gain by forces on the far right. She sees her post-politics life as a chance, relieved of the burden of living permanently in the public eye, to 'dance in the rain'. Independence remains part of her dream for the future but it will take a new generation of nationalists to find fresh momentum capable of securing a second referendum and of winning over the doubters. Nicola Sturgeon predicts that in 20 years time the UK will have been supplanted by something 'stronger, healthier and more democratic', an 'independent Scotland, a more autonomous Wales and a reunified Ireland' joining England in a new 'confederation of nations'. I am not sure about that one, but the goal of Scottish independence is unlikely to go away anytime soon, although accomplishing it is not going to get any easier. Daniel Mulhall was Ireland's first Consul General in Scotland (1998-2001) and subsequently Ambassador in London (2013-2017). His latest book is Pilgrim Soul: W B Yeats and the Ireland of his Time (Dublin: New Island Books, 2023). Recommended reading The Capital of the Mind: How Edinburgh Changed the World by James Buchan (John Murray, 2003). The 18th-century Scottish Enlightenment continues to be important in shaping Scotland's sense of itself. The Scottish Nation: 1700-2000 by TM Devine (Allen Lane, 1999). By the leading Scottish historian of his generation, this book is still in print more than 25 years after its publication. It remains the gold standard in modern Scottish history. Ireland and Scotland in the Age of Revolution: Planting the Green Bough by EM McFarland (Edinburgh University Press, 1994). Examines the impact of the Scottish enlightenment on the United Irishmen and their links with late-18th century Scottish radicals. The Highland Clearances by Eric Richards (Edinburgh University Press, 2016). The 'clearances' are described here as 'one of the sorest, most painful themes in modern Scottish history'. Culloden: Scotland's Last Battle and the Forging of the British Empire by Trevor Royle (Little, Brown, 2016). In 1746, this last great battle on British soil resulted in the dynastic demise of history's most famous Scot, Bonnie Prince Charlie, and of the Jacobite cause he personified. The Road to the Scottish Parliament by Brian Taylor (Edinburgh University Press, 2002). The kind of book that would have been written by a leading Irish journalist of that time had Home Rule been implemented in 1914.
BreakingNews.ie
5 days ago
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Sturgeon: I was not victim of ‘coercive control' by former mentor Salmond
Former first minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon rejected claims she had been the victim of coercive control by her predecessor Alex Salmond, although she said she wished she had done more to stand up against his 'bullying' of others. She also said that her confidence could be 'knocked' by disapproval from Mr Salmond – saying her former boss and one-time mentor 'probably played on that a little bit'. Advertisement And while she said she had heard rumours of 'consensual affairs', she had no knowledge of any 'inappropriate sexual behaviour on his part'. The former SNP leader spoke about her relationship with Mr Salmond as she appeared at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on Thursday. Nicola Sturgeon was questioned on her relationship with her predecessor, Alex Salmond (Andrew Milligan/PA) While she said they had an 'incredibly successful partnership' at one point, their relationship broke down after allegations against Mr Salmond emerged. The former first minister went on trial on a series of sexual assault charges in 2020, with this resulting in Mr Salmond being acquitted of all the charges against him. Advertisement Speaking about him to broadcaster Kirsty Wark, Ms Sturgeon said: 'I did not have knowledge of inappropriate behaviour on his part, any inappropriate sexual behaviour.' However, she said: 'I heard rumours over the years about affairs, consensual affairs. I took the view, rightly or wrongly, that that was none of my business, what consenting adults get up to is their business.' Pressing the former first minister on her relationship with her predecessor, Ms Wark said that Ms Sturgeon's newly published memoirs, Frankly, portrayed Mr Salmond as 'almost Svengali like'. The journalist added: 'In a way, there's almost like a thread of coercive control at some times in this book from Alex Salmond.' Advertisement Ms Sturgeon rejected this, saying she 'wouldn't describe it as that'. She said Mr Salmond, who died in October 2024, had been 'an incredibly strong, incredibly charismatic individual', adding that for much of her life 'he was a force for good'. Nicola Sturgeon was close friends with Alex Salmond but they fell out in the later years of his life (Jane Barlow/PA) Speaking about him, Ms Sturgeon said: 'He encouraged me to reach beyond what I would have considered my abilities to be, he pushed me on. 'I once said, ages ago, that he believed in me before I believed in myself.' Advertisement But she added that 'his approval mattered to me and his disapproval knocked my confidence'. Ms Sturgeon continued: 'Latterly, he probably played on that a little bit.' Nicola Sturgeon, centre, with broadcaster Kirsty Wark, left, ahead of her appearance at the Edinburgh International Book Festival (Jane Barlow/PA) Ms Wark suggested that Mr Salmond had 'definitely undermined' Ms Sturgeon 'a lot of the time'. The former first minister, however, told her: 'He also bolstered me a lot of the time.' Advertisement Recalling Mr Salmond, Ms Sturgeon said that to describe him as a bully 'is maybe putting it too strongly', but she added that 'he could behave in a bullying manner'. Asked if she challenged his behaviour, the former first minister stated: 'I don't think I did it enough, but yes, I did. 'I would on occasion, people would have seen me do it, when he was giving the hairdryer treatment to whatever member of staff, I would say, 'enough Alex'.' But she added: 'I wish I had done it more.' After she took over as leader of the SNP, Mr Salmond had advised her not to keep her then husband, Peter Murrell, in his post as chief executive of the party. At the time, Ms Sturgeon rejected this, with Mr Murrell only stepping down from the role in March 2023 – the month after Ms Sturgeon announced her decision to step down as first minister and SNP leader. She said: 'I can look back now and say, maybe, I should have taken a different decision. 'That is something I probably got wrong.' The couple have now separated and, in March this year, the former SNP chief executive appeared in court charged with embezzlement following a police investigation into party finances, However, Ms Sturgeon insisted that she 'did not think' her decision to keep her then-husband in his party role was the start of the the 'fissure' in her relationship with Mr Salmond. 'I don't think that created any tension between us,' she said.
Times
7 days ago
- Politics
- Times
Free speech blow as national library bans book opposing gender self-ID
Scotland's national library banned a book about feminists' fight against Nicola Sturgeon's gender self-ID law after staff complained its contents were 'hate speech' comparable to racism. The National Library of Scotland (NLS) has been accused of a 'shameful' capitulation to censorship after it emerged that The Women Who Wouldn't Wheesht, a collection of essays by gender-critical women, had been cut from a major exhibition celebrating the institution's centenary. Members of the public had been asked by the library, which promotes itself as a national forum for 'ideas, debate and discussion', to nominate books which had shaped their lives for inclusion in a ten-month public display intended as a 'love letter' to the power of reading. However, despite The Women Who Wouldn't Wheesht receiving double the number of nominations necessary to guarantee inclusion in the Dear Library public display, Amina Shah, Scotland's national librarian and the NLS chief executive, decided not to include the book after a staff backlash.
The Guardian
12-08-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Salmond, independence strategy and sexism: what we've learned from Nicola Sturgeon's book
Nicola Sturgeon's much-anticipated political memoir Frankly is now on sale after a cascade of hype and teasing interviews. The once stratospherically popular Scottish Nationalist leader, who led her party to repeated electoral success before becoming by her own admission a polarising force in Scottish politics, reflects on her working-class upbringing and the 'burning sense of destiny' that drove her. As Scotland's first female first minister, she participated in some of the most significant moments of modern political history – the independence referendum, the Brexit vote and its aftermath, and the Covid pandemic. But her revelations have already inflamed many of the divisions she discusses in the book. So what have we learned? Sturgeon's political partnership with her predecessor as first minister, Alex Salmond, dominates the memoir far more than any of her romantic relationships. She describes tensions that existed between them long before their catastrophic falling out over her government's handling of sexual harassment complaints against him. Salmond later stood trial and was cleared of all 13 charges, although a pattern of bullying and inappropriate behaviour towards younger female staff emerged in court. Asked directly in pre-publication interviews if she knew about Salmond's alleged behaviour, she insisted she did not, telling Sam Baker on The Shift podcast: 'I have searched my own soul over this so many times.' The memoir includes a forensic deconstruction of the conspiracy theory espoused by Salmond before his death last autumn that the allegations were confected by Sturgeon's inner circle – 'he was determined to destroy me,' she writes – and she includes the startling suggestion that Salmond himself may have leaked the initial story to the Daily Record. Her treatment of Salmond has drawn immediate fire from his allies. The former SNP MP Joanna Cherry accused Sturgeon of 'impugning a dead man who cannot defend himself' while others have demanded a retraction and an apology to his widow, Moira. David Clegg, the journalist who broke the story after receiving an anonymous envelope containing details of the harassment investigation, described Sturgeon's allegation as 'a conspiracy theory too far'. He told the BBC: 'It shows the level of suspicion and the deep rift that had formed between Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon prior to his death.' Writing about the bruising parliamentary passage of her flagship gender recognition measures, aimed at making it easier for a trans person to change their legal sex, Sturgeon uses far more ameliorative language than she has done before. She admits she should have considered pausing the legislation as the debate around it became increasingly toxic, although she says she still 'fervently believes' that the rights of women and the interests of trans people are not irreconcilable. She writes how she was 'blindsided' when the case of the double rapist Adam Graham, who was initially sent to a female prison after self-identifying as a woman called Isla Bryson, came to light and 'gave a human face to fears that until then had been abstract for most people'. She accepts she 'lost the dressing room' when she was unable to answer directly whether Bryson was a woman. In interviews now she remains evasive on that question, saying someone who commits a crime of such gravity 'forfeits their right' to change gender, and explains that 'anything I say about Isla Bryson will immediately be taken and transferred to every trans person'. The campaign group For Women Scotland, which opposed the measures, has accused Sturgeon of belatedly displaying 'retro reasonableness … in order to promote her book'. Sturgeon is legally constrained in what she can write about Operation Branchform, the Police Scotland investigation into the SNP's finances, while her husband, Peter Murrell, a former party chief executive from whom she is now separated, awaits trial for embezzlement. But she describes feeling as if she had 'fallen into the plot of a dystopian novel' when the police knocked on her door to arrest Murrell in April 2023 and she was arrested herself a few months later. 'I was devastated, mortified, confused and terrified,' she says. And although she insists she knew nothing of the alleged embezzlement, she writes of the shame she felt at how others would interpret events. ''No smoke without fire' is a strong human instinct,' she writes. In another striking moment of candour, Sturgeon describes having a panic attack 'on the floor of my home office, crying and struggling to breathe' as she struggled to edit her the Scottish government's white paper on independence. The 2014 campaign was 'like trying to push a boulder up hill', she writes, and she is particularly critical of what she describes as biased and London-centric media coverage. She assesses her later strategy critically and accepts she was 'probably wrong' to try to cast the 2024 general election as a de facto independence referendum – but predicts that 'within 20 years … the UK in its current form will no longer exist'. In a line pored over by interviewers, she writes: 'I have never considered sexuality, my own included, to be binary.' Pressed on what she meant by this, Sturgeon – who has been the subject of prurient and often lesbophobic speculation in the past – said she was not intending 'some big revelation' and that she hoped in future her relationships would remain private matters. On the breakup of her marriage, she writes that the strain of the police investigation was 'impossible to bear'. She also writes with graphic honesty about the gruelling miscarriage she went through aged 40, and shares the name she had chosen for the baby, whom she believed would be a girl, Isla. The title of the memoir, Frankly, raised some eyebrows when it was announced considering the repeated criticisms of Sturgeon's government for its lack of transparency, in particular during the Covid pandemic. Evidence to the UK Covid inquiry revealed mass deletions of WhatsApp messages by senior Scottish government figures and unminuted crisis meetings. Sturgeon reveals she sought counselling for the first time in her life when she came 'perilously close to a breakdown' after giving evidence to the inquiry – where she was confronted with a 'devastating' accusation that she had been self-serving and politically motivated. Sturgeon writes of the misogyny and sexism she faced – 'so endemic that I didn't always recognise it as such' – and the pressures she put on herself. 'Living up to the honour of being the first female incumbent of my office became almost an obsession,' she says. She sets out how a male MSP bullied her during her first term at Holyrood, spreading a 'horrible' rumour that she had injured a boyfriend during oral sex and giving her the nickname 'gnasher'. She also writes about how she was accompanied by almost crippling self-doubt, but she told Baker on The Shift that she believed her lack of confidence became her 'superpower' as it fuelled her ferocious work ethic and determination to succeed. Sturgeon says at the conclusion of her memoir that she is more content and more resilient than she has ever been, while the process of writing had been 'a form of therapy in action … amidst a constant cacophony of voices claiming to know me better than I do myself'. She has hinted she may leave Scotland for a time, telling a BBC News podcast: 'This may shock many people to hear, but I love London.'
Telegraph
12-08-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Sturgeon: Late Queen asked for gossip on Alex Salmond sex scandal
Elizabeth II asked for 'gossip' about sexual misconduct allegations against Alex Salmond, Nicola Sturgeon has claimed. The former Scottish first minister said the late Queen requested to hear 'the stories behind the political headlines' during their audiences at Balmoral. Mr Salmond, who was Ms Sturgeon's predecessor as first minister and SNP leader, left the party in 2018 after allegations of sexual misconduct emerged. Writing about Elizabeth II in her autobiography Frankly, Ms Sturgeon said: 'She also loved a bit of gossip. She always wanted to hear the stories behind the political headlines.' Recalling a meeting with the late Queen around a fortnight after the first complaints were made against Mr Salmond, she said: 'She asked me about it almost as soon as I sat down. 'She wasn't being trivial in any way, she wanted to know more of what was going on. I think she was also trying to put me at ease.' The 55-year-old republican went on to praise Queen Elizabeth, saying she felt 'able to talk freely' in her presence and 'share whatever was on my mind'. Following a police investigation, Mr Salmond was charged with 13 sexual offences, including attempted rape, but was acquitted on all counts in 2020. He successfully sued Ms Sturgeon's government in 2019 for its handling of an investigation into the sexual harassment complaints made against him. But his latter years were dominated by claims and counter-claims surrounding his conduct up to his death in 2024. Mr Salmond claimed that many in the SNP had colluded against him in an effort to block his return to front-line politics and went on to establish the rival Alba Party in 2021. In another extract from the memoir, Ms Sturgeon said Mr Salmond tried to 'destroy' her after she refused to intervene in the allegations he faced, adding that he had sought revenge for failing 'to stop the investigation in its tracks'. Far-Right 'weaponised' trans row On Tuesday, Ms Sturgeon blamed 'forces on the far-Right' for exploiting the transgender row that triggered her political downfall. She resigned as first minister in 2023 after her plan to allow trans people to self-identify their legal gender lost her the support of SNP colleagues. Ms Sturgeon later expressed regret over the pace of her changes, but has insisted in an interview with BBC Breakfast that the issue was weaponised by political groups wanting to 'push back on rights more generally'. She said: 'There are also people – and I don't know how people can deny this – forces on the far-Right who've weaponised this issue, who want to, I think, use the trans issue to push back on rights more generally, whether those are gay rights or minority rights or women's rights actually. 'And some of the abuse I've had on this issue – ironically, given that it's often in the name of women's safety – has been misogynist.' She acknowledged that the 'vast majority' of people on the opposite side of the trans debate have 'genuine' concerns. Ms Sturgeon went on to claim that trans and women's rights are not mutually exclusive despite concerns over single-sex spaces. 'I have been a feminist all my life, I will be a feminist to the day I die – hopefully a long time in the future,' she said. 'But I'm also someone who came into politics to champion the rights of minorities, to progress equality, to stand up for people who are discriminated against and stigmatised. And trans people are probably one of the most stigmatised groups in our society. 'And I don't believe [...] that trans rights and women's rights are in opposition. I believe that we can further both and actually furthering one helps further the other,' she added. Ms Sturgeon also admitted this week that rapists such as Isla Bryson should 'probably forfeit' their right to self-identify as women. She abruptly quit as SNP leader amid a scandal caused by the trans double rapist being initially placed in a female jail. Despite Ms Sturgeon's public insistence that she had simply run out of energy, SNP sources insisted at the time that the fallout from her transgender policies had been key to her demise. One of the former leader's staunchest critics was JK Rowling, who has argued that sex is immutable. Asked whether she would debate the Harry Potter author on the issue, Ms Sturgeon replied: 'There's some people in this debate who spend a lot more time thinking about me than I do thinking about them. But I will always stand up for rights for equality, for minority rights. 'There are times in my own political career where I would have made my own life easier by staying silent on some things. I don't want to be that person, I want to stand up for the things I believe in with joy and passion.' Pressed on the prospect of a debate, she said: 'I will debate with many people but I don't think JK Rowling would be willing to do that.' Writing in the memoir, Ms Sturgeon said that her life after politics has been a 'delayed adolescence' and disclosed that she could move outside Scotland in the future. In a subsequent interview with the BBC's Newscast podcast, she added: 'Suffocating is maybe putting it too strongly, but I feel sometimes I can't breathe freely in Scotland. 'This may shock many people to hear, but I love London.' Despite saying she had found a 'sense of well-being' since stepping back from front-line politics, Ms Sturgeon said she would be keen to play a central role in the event of another Scottish independence referendum. She said: 'If there is a referendum on Scottish independence, it will be a case of 'hold me back' – I'll be there.'
