Nicola Sturgeon
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| Nicola Sturgeon MSP | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 17 May 2007 |
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| First Minister | Alex Salmond |
| Preceded by | Nicol Stephen |
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Depute Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP)
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 3 September 2004 |
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| Preceded by | Roseanna Cunningham |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 3 May 2007 |
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| Preceded by | Gordon Jackson |
| Majority | 744 (3.5%) |
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| Born | 19 July 1970 Irvine, Scotland |
Nicola Sturgeon (born on 19 July 1970 in Irvine, North Ayrshire) is the Deputy First Minister of Scotland, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing, Depute Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) and Member (MSP) of the Scottish Parliament for Glasgow Govan.
Sturgeon became an MSP in the first elections to the Scottish Parliament in 1999, becoming the SNP's spokeswoman on justice, and later on education and health. In 2004, she announced that she would stand as a candidate for the leadership of the SNP following the resignation of John Swinney. However, she later withdrew from the contest in favour of Alex Salmond, but stood as Depute Leader on a joint ticket with Salmond. Both were subsequently elected and Sturgeon led the SNP in the Scottish Parliament from 2004-2007 until Salmond was elected back to the Scottish Parliament in the 2007 election.
The SNP won the highest number of seats in the Scottish Parliament following the 2007 election and Salmond was subsequently appointed First Minister of Scotland. He appointed Sturgeon his Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing.
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[edit] Background and family life
Nicola Sturgeon was born in Irvine, North Ayrshire. She was educated at Greenwood Academy, Irvine, and later studied law at the University of Glasgow where she graduated with an LLB (Hons) and Diploma in Legal Practice.[1] At University she was active in the SNP student wing through Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association.
She worked as a solicitor in the Drumchapel Law Centre in Glasgow before becoming an MSP.
Her partner is Peter Murrell, the SNP's Chief Executive.
[edit] Early political career
Sturgeon joined the Scottish National Party in 1986 and became Youth Affairs Vice Convener and Publicity Vice Convener. She is also a member of the SNP's National Executive.[2]
She first stood for election in the 1992 UK election as SNP's candidate in the Glasgow Shettleston constituency, and was the youngest parliamentary candidate in Scotland, although she failed to win the seat.
The 1997 general election saw Sturgeon selected to fight the Glasgow Govan seat for the SNP. Boundary changes meant that the notional Labour majority in the seat had increased substantially; however, infighting between the two rival candidates for the Labour nomination, Mohammed Sarwar and Mike Watson, along with an energetic local campaign, resulted in Glasgow Govan being the only UK seat to see a swing away from Labour in the midst of a Labour landslide UK-wide.
[edit] Scottish Parliament
[edit] SNP spokeswoman
Sturgeon stood for election to the Scottish Parliament in the 1999 and 2003 elections for the Glasgow Govan constituency. However she failed to win this constituency on both occasions. However in both elections, she was placed first in the regional list for the Glasgow region and was thus elected as an SNP additional member.
She was appointed the SNP's spokeswoman for health, education and later for justice.
[edit] 2004 SNP leadership contest
On 22 June 2004, John Swinney resigned as leader of the SNP, following poor results in the 2004 European Parliament election. His depute, Roseanna Cunningham, announced her intention to stand for the leadership, and previous leader, Alex Salmond stated that he would not stand and refuse nomination.[3] On June 24, 2004, Nicola Sturgeon announced that she would also be a candidate in the forthcoming election for the leadership of the Scottish National Party, with Kenny MacAskill as her running mate for the Depute leadership.[4]
However, Alex Salmond later staged a u-turn and announced he would stand for the leadership. Sturgeon withdrew from the contest and declared her support for Salmond, standing instead for the depute leadership. It was reported that Salmond had privately supported Sturgeon in her leadership bid, but decided to run for the position himself as it became apparent she was unlikely to beat Roseanna Cunningham.[5] The majority of the SNP hierarchy lent their support to the Salmond-Sturgeon bid for the leadership, although MSP Alex Neil backed Salmond as leader, but refused to endorse Sturgeon as deputy leader.[6]
The results of the leadership contest were announced on 3 September 2004, with Salmond and Sturgeon elected as Leader and Depute Leader. As Salmond was still an MP in the House of Commons, Sturgeon would lead the SNP at the Scottish Parliament until the 2007 election, when Salmond was elected as an MSP.[7]
[edit] Deputy Leader
As leader of the SNP in the Scottish Parliament, Nicola Sturgeon has become a high profile figure in Scottish politics, and regularly clashed with the former First Minister, Jack McConnell at First Minister's Questions. This included rows over the House of Commons' decision to replace the Trident nuclear weapon system; and the SNP's plans to replace council tax in Scotland with a local income tax.[8]
Sturgeon defeated Gordon Jackson with a 4.7% swing to the SNP in the 2007 Scottish Parliamentary election in Govan. The SNP won 9,010 votes (41.9%) which was an increase of +10.7% while Labour received 8,266 votes or 38.4%.
After the SNP's victory at the 2007 Scottish Parliament Election, Sturgeon was appointed as the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing. She is supported in this role by longtime friend Shona Robison MSP, the Minister for Public Health and by Stewart Maxwell MSP, the Minister for Communities and Sport.
[edit] References
- ^ Alba.org.uk- Candidates and Constituency Assessments
- ^ SNP.org- Nicola Sturgeon
- ^ BBC News- "Under-fire SNP leader resigns"
- ^ BBC News- "Sturgeon contests SNP leadership"
- ^ Edinburgh News- "Salmond in shock bid for leader"
- ^ Scotsman.com- "Salmond's arch-rival buries hatchet with declaration of support"
- ^ BBC News- "Salmond named as new SNP leader"
- ^ BBC News-"Parties clash on Trident and tax"
[edit] External links
| Scottish Parliament | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Gordon Jackson |
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Glasgow Govan 2007 – present |
Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Nicol Stephen |
Deputy First Minister of Scotland 2007 – present |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by Andy Kerr (as Minister for Health and Community Care) |
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing 2007 – present |
Incumbent |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Roseanna Cunningham |
Deputy Leader of the Scottish National Party 2004 – present |
Incumbent |
