Nicola Sturgeon
Nicola Sturgeon
Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon PCis a Scottish politician who is the fifth and current First Minister of Scotland and the leader of the Scottish National Party, in office since 2014. She is the first woman to hold either position. Sturgeon has been a member of the Scottish Parliament since 1999, first as an additional member for the Glasgow electoral region from 1999 to 2007, and as the member for Glasgow Southside since 2007...
NationalityScottish
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth19 July 1970
CityIrvine, Scotland
I was very proud, on just my second day in office, to appoint a gender-balanced cabinet - one of only three in the developed world.
I bow to no one in my ambition to see Glasgow be as successful as it possibly can be.
American companies based in Scotland employ large numbers of people - in fact, we are the best performing part of the U.K., outside London and the southeast of England when it comes to attracting foreign direct investment.
The U.K.'s debt belongs legally to Westminster, so Scotland, by definition, can't default on it.
Instead of an end to austerity, Labour has made clear that it wants to impose more austerity cuts.
Tax credits are designed to help people who work hard but who, through no fault of their own, don't earn enough to keep their families out of poverty.
Parties that win elections should form the government, not parties that lose elections.
I'm a politician, and as you know, politicians are rarely very funny.
Thatcher was the motivation for my entire political career. I hated everything she stood for.
Let us put the normal divisions of politics aside. Let us come together as one country; let us seize this historic moment to shift the balance of power from the corridors of Westminster to the streets and communities of Scotland.
The total impact of the Tory/Liberal tax, welfare and public spending changes has hit the poorest 10% in society disproportionately hard - and women have been affected even more badly than men.
I've never had a voice coach, but I am about to name drop horrendously here: I did once get some advice on how to project my voice from Sean Connery, which was lovely. It's all about where you breathe. That's my claim to fame.
As a young woman in politics, with few women around, you start to subconsciously behave like men in politics. That comes across as quite hard, tough and humorless, but you're trying to be taken seriously.
Not once in my life has the Tory Party come anywhere close to winning an election in Scotland, and yet, for more than half my life, we have had a Tory government. That is wrong and undemocratic.