[100], The departure of Kenny MacAskill and Michael Russell signalled a generational shift away from the 79 group. The investigating panel consisted of Dame Elish Angiolini, a former Solicitor General for Scotland and lord advocate, and James Hamilton, a former director of public prosecutions in the Republic of Ireland. She is the eldest child of her parents, Robin and Joanne Sturgeon. For there is plenty of evidence that people of Irish descent have been to the fore in the near-quadrupling of SNP membership to 92,000 since the referendum, which threatens to undo Labour at the 2015 UK general election. She opposed the decision made and criticised Scottish Secretary Alister Jack for blocking the bill and said that the decision was an attack on the Scottish Parliament and Scottish democracy as a whole and said that the matter would be brought to the courts. Speaking at the annual Cardinal Winning Lecture at the University of . 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. [111] The manifesto also included a commitment to increase NHS funding by 500 million, "baby boxes" full of essentials to newborn parents, and an ambitious new target to cut emissions by 50% by 2020 as of the party's effort to tackle climate change. Furthermore, they concluded that the Scottish Government had awarded the contracts without normal financial safeguards and presided over a "multitude of failings". According to one poll, just 31% of non Catholics backed independence compared with no less than 57% of Catholics. The Catholicism of the Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy has attracted some attention this week against a backdrop of fascinating political developments in Scotland. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon whose party are losing electoral support from fundamentalist members of the Catholic Church in Scotland. [219] She proposed the Scottish Government would use the pound sterling for a brief period before transitioning to a new currency known as the 'Scottish Pound'. [331], Sturgeon lives in Glasgow with her husband, Peter Murrell, who is the chief executive officer of the SNP. She also promised to hold a monthly Facebook question and answer session with members of the public, regular town hall meetings and that the Scottish Cabinet would meet outside Edinburgh once every two months. [67], Salmond put Sturgeon in charge of the Scottish Government's legislative process for a referendum on Scottish Independence and she was essentially in charge of the SNP's referendum campaign. Anthony Horan, director of the Catholic Parliamentary . [185] As part of the agreement, the Green Party co-leaders would be nominated to serve as ministers. His then-depute, Roseanna Cunningham, immediately announced her intention to stand for the leadership. [287] However, she defended her party's leader Alex Salmond from accusations of sexism. [citation needed] During her time at the University of Glasgow she was active as a member of the Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association and the Glasgow University Students' Representative Council. University of Bradford provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation UK. [253] In particular, she said she hoped to focus on closing the attainment gap between the richest and poorest children in Scottish schools, telling journalists: "Let me be clear I want to be judged on this. [182][183], Sturgeon was nominated for the post of First Minister by a vote of the Scottish Parliament on 18 May, defeating Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross and Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie by 64 votes to 31 and 4 respectively. The previous leader, Alex Salmond, announced at the time that he would not stand. [264], With a view towards Brexit, Sturgeon demanded greater powers for the Scottish Parliament, arguing that Brexit is threatening Scotland's devolution settlement. [321], Sturgeon was elected leader of the SNP at a time the party enjoyed a surge in membership. [232], In January 2021, a former trans officer in the SNP's LGBT wing, Teddy Hope, quit the party, claiming it was one of the "core hubs of transphobia in Scotland". [199][200][201], The Scottish Government had commissioned two new ferries for 97m from Ferguson's shipyard in 2015, but the construction of the two vessels was beset by delays and complications. [230][231][232] In the 2021 SNP manifesto, Sturgeon committed the party once again to reform the Gender Recognition Act 2004 of the UK Parliament and in August that year included the commitment in her agreement with the Scottish Greens on power-sharing. The first confirmed case of the virus in Scotland was announced on 1 March 2020, when a resident in Tayside had tested positive. Following the referendum defeat, Sturgeon said that "further devolution is the route to independence". [30], However, once Cunningham emerged as the favourite to win,[30] Salmond announced his intention to stand for the leadership; Sturgeon subsequently withdrew from the contest and declared her support for Salmond, standing instead as his running mate for the depute leadership. [328][329] She was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2014. [181] The SNP won a fourth consecutive election, albeit short of an overall majority, with a record number of votes on both the constituency and regional vote[failed verification] as well as increasing their share of the constituency vote and making a net gain of one seat. Parents And Ethnicity Revealed By Manish Chitrakar February 15, 2023 Nicola Sturgeon being catholic has been a major turn-up on the internet, as the Scottish politician Read More The up side is that Peter understands what's going on and why I am late home all the time. More election successes are sure to follow. Net Worth February 15, 2023. If he was engaged in a contest for the hearts and minds of Scots with a Catholic upbringing and some Irish roots, he failed: Glasgow and its environs voted decisively Yes. [294][295][230], In April 2020, the reforms were again delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sturgeon argued that the meetings were SNP party matters, and thus not covered. We can't bind our successors, but we've made very clear our belief that constitutional referenda are once-in-a-generation events. [15] Sturgeon was a fan of Wham! She has described herself as being an austere teen whose style tended towards goth, adding that if you see pictures of me back then, you would struggle to know whether I was a boy or a girl. "[166], In July 2020, Sturgeon advocated that the leaders of the four UK nations adopt a coordinated Zero-COVID strategy. [300][301] She was accused of using "dangerous language" and when asked if she regretted the comments, Sturgeon simply replied "No" and emphasised the point she detested Tory policies and not supporters or voters. At the time, Queen's Counsel under the reign of Elizabeth II, now King's Counsel under the reign of Charles III. She departs leaving both TERF Island and her successor holding two sweating sticks of constitutional dynamite. [299], At the SNP's 2022 annual party conference in Aberdeen, Sturgeon stated "I detest the Tories and everything they stand for" in an interview on the BBC. A video of the interaction went viral[187] and a few days later, Sturgeon wrote to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, asking that the development of Cambo should be "reassessed in light of the severity of the climate emergency". Her second term was dominated by the result of the 2016 Brexit referendum, when the UK voted to leave the European Union, in spite of 62% of votes in Scotland backing remaining in the EU. Their neighbourhoods are shared with people who adhere to a Protestant culture, but they are less likely to have been at the crest of the SNP wave. Nicola Sturgeon, (born July 19, 1970, Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland), first minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party (2014- ), Scotland's fifth leaderand first woman leadersince the establishment of the Scottish Parliament and government in 1999. RELATIONSHIP DETAILS BELOW Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon is a Scottish politician and the fifth and current First Minister of Scotland and the leader of the Scottish National Party, in office since 2014. [89], Sturgeon was formally acclaimed as the first female Leader of the SNP on 14 November 2014 at the Autumn Conference in Perth, with Hosie as her depute. [335][336], Her mother Joan was the SNP Provost of North Ayrshire council, where she was councillor for the Irvine East ward from 2007 until 2016. while other islanders said they had missed doctors appointments, funerals and even the chance to say goodbye to dying loved ones because of cancelled sailings. "[250], In July 2022 the figures for 2021 were released, revealing that 1,330 had died - nine fewer than in 2020. Sturgeon apologised for being overexcited although expressed that she was celebrating Amy Callaghan's win. The favourite to replace Nicola Sturgeon has said Isla Bryson should have the right to self-identify as female despite arguing that the transgender rapist is "at it". Sturgeon said there were "lots of lessons to learn". [90] In her first speech as leader, Sturgeon said that it was "the privilege of her life" to lead the party she joined as a teenager. We may be seeing social volatility on Clydeside harnessed and turned it into a powerful weapon. The SNP emerged as the largest party following the 2007 election and Salmond headed the first SNP minority government, with Sturgeon as his Deputy First Minster. Sturgeon confirmed in June 2016 that the Scottish government had formally agreed to draft legislation to allow a second independence referendum to take place. [222][223], On the day the Supreme Court ruled the Scottish Parliament does not have the power to legislate a referendum on independence, Sturgeon announced the next democratic election in Scotland, in this case a UK general election expected to be held in 2024, would be campaigned by the SNP as a de facto referendum. [10][11] Her younger sister, Gillian Sturgeon, is an NHS worker. [224][225] Unionist parties have rejected this characterisation. [231][293] The Scottish Government said it had paused the legislation in order to find "maximum consensus" on the issue[231] and commentators described the issue as having divided the SNP like no other, with many dubbing the debate a "civil war". Sturgeon was retained as Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing until a reshuffle one year later, when she was appointed as Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Capital Investment and Cities and an additional role overseeing the referendum on Scottish independence, essentially putting her in charge of the SNP's referendum campaign. [34], As leader of the SNP in the Scottish Parliament, she served as the Leader of the Opposition in Holyrood. Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has said her government is an "unequivocal supporter" of Catholic schools. [56][57], On 11 June, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the influenza virus a pandemic. Mr Swinney announced on Thursday his plans to step down when a new first minister is appointed, bringing to an end his near-16 year career at the top of the Scottish Government. [135] Observers also concluded that opposition to the EU's Common Fisheries Policy in coastal communities was a factor behind large swings to the Tories in North East seats previously held by nationalists for decades. Quite simply, I would not have been able to do what I have in politics without his constant advice, guidance and support through all these years. [202][203][204], Sturgeon told the Scottish Parliament of her "deep regret" that islanders were enduring such chaos and said that the Government was "learning lessons from this experience". Aged 21, Sturgeon was selected as the SNP candidate in the Glasgow Shettleston constituency. "[98], Sturgeon began making appointments to her first cabinet on 21 November 2014, beginning with the appointment of finance secretary John Swinney to become her Deputy First Minister. They are more likely to be within a splintered and increasingly post-religious community rather than between Orange and Green factions. Private Eye has described the police investigation into SNP finances as the "game-changer" in Nicola Sturgeon's abrupt decision to resign last month.. A column in the magazine also questioned whether Ms Sturgeon and her husband, the SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, have a joint bank account and, if so, whether his loan of 107,620 was made from it. "[275], Following the death of the Queen Elizabeth II, Sturgeon led tributes to the Queen. ", "Missed funerals and helicopter transfers as ferries misery grows", "Ferries fiasco blamed on 'significant operational failures', "400m estimate for ferries as expert demands public inquiry", "Nicola Sturgeon: Buck stops with me over ferry contract row", "Official Report: First Minister's Question Time", "Sturgeon defends ferries contract decision", "Yesterday, Keith Brown was quizzed on the Ferguson Marine ferry deal- telling @C4Ciaran "that document, the one that signed it off, if it ever existed, is not now available", "Permanent secretary demands 'rigorous' record-keeping after ferries missing document", "Jack McConnell claims SNP may have 'broken law' over missing ferry paperwork", "Scotland's leader starts a campaign for a new independence vote", "Nicola Sturgeon unveils case for Scottish independence", "Sturgeon plans to hold second Scottish independence referendum in October 2023", "Sturgeon plots alternative route to Scottish independence vote next year", "Boris Johnson Rejects Nicola Sturgeon's Call For A Second Independence Referendum", "Scotland announces plan for independence vote in October 2023", "Nicola Sturgeon takes Indyref2 to Supreme Court as Scotland will 'not be prisoner of Boris Johnson', "Scottish independence: 19 October 2023 proposed as date for referendum", "Nicola Sturgeon launches third independence paper: full speech", "Nicola Sturgeon promises new 'Scottish pound' and no passports to visit England - as she lays out economic plan for independence", "Scottish pound: Independent Scotland would introduce new currency", "First Minister: Independence "essential" to Scotland's prosperity", "Independence will rid Scotland of UK economic chaos, says Nicola Sturgeon", "Supreme court rules against Scottish parliament holding new independence referendum", "SNP will treat next UK general election as 'de facto referendum', Sturgeon says", "We'll find another way to Scottish independence - Nicola Sturgeon", "Scottish opposition parties reject SNP's plan to treat election as referendum", "Angus MacNeil: Why we should hold a Holyrood election as a vote on independence", "Nicola Sturgeon makes gender recognition pledge", "SNP civil war deepens as leading Sturgeon critic Joanna Cherry purged from Westminster team", "Scottish transgender reforms put on hold", "Transgender reforms shelved due to coronavirus pandemic", "Trans rights: How gender recognition reform became one of Scotland's most heated debates", "Nicola Sturgeon facing backlash over proposed gender legislation", "Nicola Sturgeon dismisses concerns over gender reforms as 'not valid', "Nicola Sturgeon says gender reform row will go to court", Nicola Sturgeon's gender conundrum: Is Isla Bryson a man or a woman, "Nicola Sturgeon says time is right to resign as Scotland's first minister", "Nicola Sturgeon resigns as First Minister after eight years at top of Scottish politics", "Nicola Sturgeon resigns: Indyref2 is in a perilous position with no clear successor for first minister", "Health boards told to fill 15 million cut in funding for drug and alcohol care", "Proposed cuts on funding for drug and alcohol rehabilitation in Scotland", "Drug deaths in Scotland rose by 23% in 2016", "Scotland's drug deaths rise to new record", "Sturgeon: We took our eye off the ball on drug deaths", "Deaths among homeless people in Scotland up 10%", "Drug deaths in Scotland reach new record level", "Scotland: Drug deaths hit record level for seventh year in a row here's what the data shows", "Nicola Sturgeon accused of ignoring drug deaths epidemic in Scotland", "Scottish government under pressure as drug deaths fell by just nine in 2021", "Drug deaths in Scotland fall by one per cent but are still second highest ever recorded", "Nicola Sturgeon: Scottish education 'not good enough', "Nicola Sturgeon: Judge me on education record", "Attainment gap remains wide and better education data needed | Audit Scotland", "School attainment gap 'remains wide', watchdog warns", "Schulz empfngt Schottin Sturgeon zu Gesprch ber Brexit-Folgen", "Nicola Sturgeon says 'difficult' Theresa May will struggle with Brexit talks", "Nicola Sturgeon calls for united front to protect devolution", "Nicola Sturgeon breaks convention to back Hillary Clinton in Presidential race", "Sturgeon 'will not be silent' over Trump", "Nicola Sturgeon congratulates Donald Trump on inauguration", "Nicola Sturgeon 'let women down' by posing with anti-abortion politician", "Taking Back the House, Vol. "[54] The following day, she confirmed that these were cases of the swine influenza A (H1N1) virus. But the stridency of folk shedding their religious skins and looking for a substitute faith is unlikely to reconcile them to the rest of the Scottish nation. Yes, I think that is true. If any Irish politicians warned these people about the risks of independence, he would likely be told to mind his own business. "[148], Sturgeon led her party to a landslide victory in the 2019 United Kingdom general election in Scotland. [265], Sturgeon was highly critical of Donald Trump and his policies during the 2016 United States presidential election and had publicly backed his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. [144] Opposition parties criticised Sturgeon on disparity and contradictions between the narratives of Murrell and herself. [123] An emergency Scottish cabinet meeting on 25 June agreed that the Scottish Government would seek to enter negotiations with the EU and its member states, to explore options to protect Scotland's place in the EU. Affiliated with the Scottish National Party, she took office in 2007 as Deputy First Minister of Scotland. Can Sturgeon's bid to narrow the 'educational gap' survive austerity Kevin McKenna The first minister has praised the contribution of Catholic schools to 'modern Scotland' Nicola Sturgeon. If Scotland was outside Europe, they would lose the right to stay here."[74][75]. [48] Sturgeon oversaw the scrapping of prescription charges In Scotland, an election pledge by the SNP originally for the chronically ill and those with cancer. She was categorised in 2015 as part of the SNP's gradualist wing, which believed in achieving independence through accumulating the Scottish Parliament's powers from the UK Parliament over time. "[155], In April 2022 Sturgeon demanded that Prime Minister Boris Johnson resign after police fined him for breaking lockdown rules in 2020. Nicola Sturgeon is a Scottish politician. "[254], In 2021, Audit Scotland concluded that, "Progress on closing the poverty-related attainment gap between the most and least deprived school pupils has been limited"[255] and fell short of the Government's aims. There was no agreement on oil and gas exploration, but the government now argued that it had a stronger case for a national independence referendum. Alex Neil, who many speculated would be dismissed, remained in cabinet but in a "less prominent portfolio" of social justice, communities and pensioners rights. But now these Scots are mainstream. Is Nicola Sturgeon Catholic - What Is Her Religion? Nicola was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, on July 9, 1970. On 15 February 2023, Sturgeon announced her intention to resign the leadership of the SNP and as First Minister. Thatcher was the motivation for my entire political career. You would need to be wired to the moon to think Nicola Sturgeon and her Government give two hoots about the teachings of the Catholic Church or the sensibilities of genuine Catholics. [236], In 2023, Sturgeon was criticised in connection with the Isla Bryson case, in which a transgender woman who had raped two women when named Adam Graham began self-identifying as a woman after being charged. Born in Ayrshire, Sturgeon is a law graduate of the University of Glasgow, having worked as a solicitor in Glasgow before her election to the Scottish Parliament in 1999. "[245], The crisis has particularly impacted the homeless in Scotland: 216 homeless people died in Scotland in 2019 an increase of 11% on the previous year; over half (54%) of these deaths were drug-related. Image: Belfast Telegraph First Minister condemns anti-Catholic bigotry First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has publicly condemned anti-Catholic bigotry during First Minister's Questions in the Scottish Parliament. Acknowledging this, Sturgeon suggested: "That is why the SNP have urged a policy for many months that we believe can provide people with the necessary reassurance, by providing a statutory underpinning to the guidelines, and resolve this difficult debate. What religion are the Bee Gees? The official name is the Free Church of Scotland, and many devotees dislike the popular epithet of the "Wee Frees," with good grounds for arguing that the term is both outdated and sectarian. [129] By the end of that week, on 30 March 2017, Sturgeon wrote to the Prime Minister requesting a Section 30 order, formally devolving the responsibility and power to the Scottish Government to plan for and hold another referendum on Scottish independence. [121] Sturgeon said it was "democratically unacceptable" that Scotland could be taken out of the EU "against its will".[122]. [99] Shona Robison, a close ally to Sturgeon, became the health secretary, while Keith Brown and Angela Constance, who were both unsuccessful in their bids for the deputy leadership of the SNP, were appointed infrastructure secretary and education secretary, respectively. Likewise, she also holds the leader of the Scottish National Party position. She became the youngest ever parliamentary candidate in Scotland in the 1992 general election. Copyright 20102023, The Conversation Media Group Ltd, Committee Member - MNF Research Advisory Committee, PhD Scholarship - Uncle Isaac Brown Indigenous Scholarship. [96][97] During her first First Minister's Questions after being sworn in, Sturgeon tried to strike a conciliatory tone, saying that she came into her new post "with an open mind and a willingness to hear proposals from all sides of the chamber. [337], In 2016, Sturgeon disclosed that she had miscarried five years previously. [240], In 2016 the Scottish Government cut direct funding to drug and alcohol rehabilitation programmes from 69.2 million to 53.8 million a drop of 22%. Quite A Scoop! [71][72], During the campaign, the European Commission said that if Scots decided to leave the United Kingdom, it would also mean leaving the European Union. [60][61] This marked the first death in Scotland and Europe. [235], On 22 December 2022, the Scottish Parliament voted 86 to 39 to pass the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill which was introduced by Sturgeon's government. Scotland would then have to reapply for EU membership and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso predicted this would be "extremely difficult, if not impossible". In 2015, Sturgeon was questioned as, and in some cases branded as, the 'most dangerous woman in Britain'. LONDON Nicola Sturgeon, a fiery campaigner for Scotland's independence who led its government for more than eight years, resigned on Wednesday, declaring that she was exhausted and had . Despite being a Roman Catholic, some of his roughest receptions were in places with deep Irish associations such as Motherwell.