Nicola Sturgeon

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Nicola Sturgeon (2017)

Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon (born July 19, 1970 in Irvine , Scotland ) is a British politician ( SNP ). She has been Scotland's First Minister since 2014 .

Life

Nicola Sturgeon grew up with two younger sisters as the daughter of Robert Sturgeon, an engineer, and Joan Sturgeon, a current SNP politician. She attended public schools in Dreghorn and Prestwick and then studied law at the University of Glasgow , where she earned a Bachelor of Laws in 1992 and a Diploma in Legal Practice in 1993 . She states that she would not have been able to finish her training without a free course. She then worked as a lawyer in a law firm and free legal advice in the Drumchapel district of Glasgow .

Political activity

At the age of 16, she said she was inspired by Margaret Thatcher and became more interested in politics. On the one hand, Thatcher would show that a woman interested in power could get to the top in politics. On the other hand, Sturgeon rejected Thatcher's conservative ideology. The then dominant Labor Party in Scotland could not stop Thatcher's policies. Therefore, at the age of 16, when she was already a member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament , she joined the SNP.

The Nicola Sturgeons constituency office in Glasgow

In 1992 she ran as Scotland's youngest candidate for the SNP in the general election in the Glasgow Shettleston constituency . The candidacy failed. Only her candidacy in the Scottish parliamentary elections in 1999 , the first election of a Scottish parliament after devolution, was successful . Although she did not win her constituency of Glasgow Govan directly, she entered parliament via the SNP's state list. The SNP opposed a coalition of Labor and Liberal Democrats and served as spokeswoman for the party for health, law and education. When SNP boss John Swinney resigned in 2004, she first publicly considered a candidacy for the party chairmanship, but let Alex Salmond precede, who stood with her as deputy and became party chairman. While he was mostly in London as a member of the House of Commons , Sturgeon was able to make a name for himself in the Scottish Parliament as an opposition leader with violent attacks on Labor Prime Minister Jack McConnell . In 2007 she succeeded in taking away the constituency of Glasgow-Govan from the Labor Party and being directly elected to the Scottish Parliament. In this election, the SNP became the strongest party and Sturgeon became Deputy First Minister and Minister of Health.

The Scottish Cabinet 2011, front right Nicola Sturgeon, left next to Alex Salmond

In 2011 the SNP won an absolute majority and Sturgeon was able to win the new constituency of Glasgow Southside directly. She initially remained Minister of Health and after a year moved to the Ministry of Infrastructure. In the 2014 independence referendum , she played a leading role in the SNP's campaign for Scottish independence ( Yes! ). Despite the defeat, the Yes! -Stock is performing better than expected, and Sturgeon has been commended for their campaign. After the referendum defeat, Salmond resigned. As a result, Nicola Sturgeon took over both the party chairmanship and the office of First Minister in November 2014 .

In the general election of 2015 , the SNP won a landslide in Scotland; of 59 constituencies, the SNP won 56 at the expense of Labor and the Liberal Democrats. Sturgeon was again recognized for its dynamic campaign.

In the Scottish general election in 2016 , the SNP remained the strongest party, but lost an absolute majority. Sturgeon continues to rule at the head of an SNP minority cabinet.

In the regional elections in Scotland on May 4, 2017, the SNP, led by Sturgeon, remained the strongest political force, but was unable to win an absolute majority in a single Council Area . On the contrary, majorities in Angus and Dundee were lost and the number of mandates decreased by seven across the country.

On June 8, 2017, early general elections took place, in which Sturgeon's SNP suffered significant losses. 13.7 percentage points of the vote changed to the conservatives ( swing ), 21 seats in the lower house were lost to the SNP. Sturgeon admitted that this was apparently due to her party's plans for another independence referendum. In March 2017, Prime Minister Theresa May rejected the official call for another referendum in Scotland with the words " Now is not the time ". After the general election, Sturgeon publicly refrained from their plans and called a second referendum "untimely". However, she left no doubt that she and her party remained determined on the matter of Scottish independence:

"The mandate we have is beyond doubt but deciding exactly how and when to exercise it is a judgment in the interests of the country as a whole and that is what I have been thinking carefully about." Nicola Sturgeon

In the 2019 European Parliament elections, Sturgeon led the SNP to a clear success by winning 3 of the 6 Scottish seats.

In the again early general election on December 12, 2019, she achieved another success with the SNP, which, although lagging behind the 2015 result, was nonetheless generally impressive. Of the 59 constituencies in Scotland, the SNP candidates won 48. In the 11 other constituencies, the SNP candidates came second. The relative share of the vote in the SNP was 43% nationwide.

A crisis culminated in early 2021, the main content of which was dealing with allegations against her predecessor Alex Salmond of sexual abuse. Accusations had been raised as early as April 2018, but Sturgeon met with Salmond unofficially (which was not in accordance with the code of conduct for members of the government). Salmond won a lawsuit over the Scottish Government's handling of the matter; the Scottish government admitted to acting illegally. A committee of inquiry of the Scottish Parliament has been dealing with the matter since 2020.

Referendum on EU membership in 2016

Sturgeon with members of the European Parliament after the Brexit referendum

In the 2016 EU membership referendum, Scotland and Northern Ireland , unlike England and Wales , voted to remain in the EU; Scotland was the only part of the country in which all constituencies, without exception , voted with Remain (to remain in the EU). Sturgeon said it was democratically unacceptable for Scotland to be removed from the EU against his stated will. A second independence referendum is "on the table". She convened a panel of experts to discuss the consequences of Brexit for Scotland. On June 29, she met Jean-Claude Juncker and Martin Schulz in Brussels , but the President of the European Council , Donald Tusk , declined to meet her. On July 15, 2016, she met with the new British Prime Minister Theresa May , who clearly opposed the new referendum on Scottish independence brought up by Sturgeon. Since the end of 2020, the UK is no longer part of the EU internal market and the customs union. Prime Minister Johnson negotiated with the EU until Christmas 2020; then the trade and cooperation agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom was provisionally sealed.

Sturgeon reiterated its view in early 2021 that Scotland should leave the UK and quickly rejoin the EU.

Political positions

Sturgeon's first political actions included advocating Scottish independence , supporting the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and harsh criticism of the social consequences of Margaret Thatcher's conservative austerity policies . She holds on to both positions to this day. She describes herself as a feminist , after her meeting with Theresa May she described both politicians as role models for young girls and proof that nothing is impossible. She has made equality one of her main concerns; her cabinet is the first in the United Kingdom to be made up of equal numbers of men and women.

Personal

Nicola Sturgeon has been married to Peter Murrell, Managing Director of SNP, since 2010 and lives in Glasgow. She is a fan of the television series Borgen and X-Factor and enjoys reading in her spare time.

  • with the Prime Minister of Iceland, Katrín Jakobsdóttir

  • with the moderator of the Church of Scotland

  • with Henrietta Fore, UNICEF

  • with Niels Annen, Minister of State in the Foreign Office

  • with Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of Hong Kong, 2015

literature

Web links

Commons : Nicola Sturgeon  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Nicola Sturgeon: Leader on slow road to her stone of destiny , James Cusick, The Independent, October 17, 2014
  2. ↑ Sturgeon on the Scottish Parliament page
  3. ↑ a b c d Sturgeon's biography on the Scottish National Party website ( Memento from July 15, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ Sturgeon on the Scottish Government side
  5. ^ A b c d Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish Politician , Peter Kellner, Encyclopedia Britannica
  6. ↑ Election 2015: SNP wins 56 of 59 seats in Scots landslide , BBC News, May 8, 2015
  7. ↑ Scotland local elections 2017. In: BBC. Accessed December 25, 2020 .
  8. ↑ General election 2017: Sturgeon says Indyref2 'a factor' in SNP losses. In: BBC. June 19, 2017, accessed December 25, 2020 .
  9. ↑ 'Now is not the time': May on second Scottish referendum - video. The Guardian, March 16, 2017, accessed December 25, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Adam Blenkow: Nicola Sturgeon delays forth plans for a second Scottish independence referendum Following election losses. Business Insider, June 27, 2017, accessed December 25, 2020 .
  11. ↑ Philip Sim: Election 2019: the result in Scotland in numbers. BBC, December 13, 2019, accessed December 25, 2020 .
  12. ↑ Nick Eardley: The seven key questions facing Nicola Sturgeon. In: BBC news. March 2, 2021, accessed March 3, 2021 .
  13. ^ New Scotland independence referendum 'highly likely': Sturgeon , Elisabeth O'Leary, Reuters, June 24, 2016
  14. ↑ Brexit vote: Nicola Sturgeon statement in full , BBC, June 24, 2016
  15. ↑ Sturgeon sets up expert group to advise on aftermath of Brexit vote , BBC, June 28, 2016
  16. ↑ Brexit: Spain and France oppose Scotland EU talks , BBC, June 29, 2016
  17. ↑ Brexit: PM is 'willing to listen to options' on Scotland , BBC, July 15, 2016
  18. ↑ Guest post ( spiegel.de , January 6, 2021).
  19. ^ A b The Nicola Sturgeon story , Andrew Black, BBC Scotland, November 19, 2014
  20. ↑ Nicola Sturgeon signs 'Rethink Trident' pledge , The Scotsman, August 22, 2015
  21. ^ Nicola Sturgeon attacks 'Westminster austerity economics' , BBC News, February 11, 2015
  22. ↑ Glasgow Guardian interviews Nicola Sturgeon , Gina Mete & Alastair Thomas, Glasgow Guardian, Issue 4, February 6, 2015
  23. ↑ Nicola Sturgeon posts touching feminist message after meeting with rival leader Theresa May , Sebastian Mann, Evening Standard, July 15, 2016
  24. ↑ Women of 2014: Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's first minister , Mure Dickie, Financial Times, December 12, 2014
  25. ↑ Nicola Sturgeon: Who is she and what is the story behind politics' woman of the hour? , Ella Alexander, The Independent, September 24, 2014
personal data
SURNAME Sturgeon, Nicola
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sturgeon, Nicola Ferguson (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish Politician (SNP) and First Minister
DATE OF BIRTH July 19, 1970
PLACE OF BIRTH Irvine , Scotland