Scotland’s former first minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced she is standing down as an MSP.
Sturgeon, who led the Scottish National party from 2014 until her shock resignation in 2023, said she would not seek re-election in 2026, telling her Glasgow Southside constituency party members: “I have known in my heart for a while that the time is right for me to embrace different opportunities in a new chapter of my life.”
In the letter, which she also posted on social media, Sturgeon – who has been a member of the Scottish parliament since its inception in 1999 and the first woman to lead her party and country – said she hoped the policies she had implemented as first minister – including the Scottish child payment, expanded early years education, investment in housing and new hospitals – had benefited people across Scotland.
Sturgeon, who remains popular among many sections of the SNP, also addressed party members across the country in her social media post, telling them: “I may be leaving parliament, but I will be by your side every step of the way as we complete our journey to independence.”
She added that “given the challenges facing the world today, it is more important than ever that progressive voices continue to speak up for fairness, equality and dignity for all”.
Her decision was not unexpected: Sturgeon had evidently switched her focus away from Holyrood politics back to her constituency since she stepped down after a gruelling run of challenges, including the Covid pandemic, the Holyrood inquiry into the Scottish government’s handling of sexual assault allegations against her predecessor Alex Salmond, and the controversy around her flagship gender recognition reforms.
She has made few political interventions in the intervening time, concentrating on writing her memoir, which is due for publication later this year, and her recent public appearances have been culturally inclined, attending book festivals and holding a series of in-conversation events with her friend, the crime novellist Val McDermid, to discuss their love of books with literary guests.
Her jaunty social media posts show her enjoying the “ordinary stuff that most people take for granted”, which she referenced in her resignation speech as having become increasingly out of her reach.
Earlier this year Sturgeon announced her divorce from her husband of 15 years, the former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, who was arrested and charged last year over the alleged embezzlement of donations to the SNP.
Sturgeon, who has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing over the party’s finances, was also arrested by Police Scotland detectives in June 2023 and officially remains under investigation as part of Operation Branchform, but has not been charged.
She leaves elected office as support for her party has rallied following July’s catastrophic general election defeat – in which the SNP was reduced from 48 MPs in 2019 to nine as Labour swept the board across the country.
The current first minister, John Swinney, has steadied the party in the run-up to next May’s Holyrood elections after a year of turmoil, which included the Branchform arrests as well as the resignation of Sturgeon’s successor, Humza Yousaf, after the collapse of the governing partnership with the Scottish Greens.
Swinney, now governing as a minority, has brought a tight focus to his premiership, prioritising the elimination of child poverty, improving public services and growing the economy.
Holyrood faces a significant drain of experienced figures, with seasoned politicians of all parties, including a number of former and current cabinet secretaries, stepping down next May.
