SNP in turmoil after Nicola Sturgeon resigns as first minister

In a hastily arranged press conference in Edinburgh, Sturgeon said she no longer had the stamina to continue in the highly pressured and demanding role.

Her resignation, which many had suspected could happen nearer the next Holyrood election in 2026, triggered speculation about her successor and also opens up the prospect of a significant Labour revival in Scotland.

Labour sources believe her resignation has given them an unexpected opportunity to win back up to 15 or 20 seats at the next general election, boosting their chances of securing an overall UK-wide majority.

With Scottish Labour hosting its spring conference in Edinburgh this weekend, its strategists believe it is highly unlikely her successor will have the skills or appeal to replicate that at the next election, allowing it to regain lost ground.

The SNP leader has had a series of political setbacks recently, including the UK supreme court defeat of her plans for a fresh independence referendum and a damaging row over double rapist Isla Bryson being sent to a female jail after announcing she was a trans woman.

Sturgeon told reporters at Bute House, her official residence in Edinburgh, that she had felt for some months that her energy and desire to remain as first minister was wavering. That feeling had solidified in early January and had grown since, she added.

She said she had decided to quit now because the SNP was holding a special one-day conference in mid-March to debate how best to seek a fresh independence referendum, after the supreme court rejected her claim that Holyrood had the power to legislate for another vote without Westminster approval.

Sturgeon said she knew she did not have the energy to commit to that cause for as long as necessary. The SNP needed to know that a new leader would have to take up that quest before deciding on its independence strategy, she added.

Her resignation also reignited speculation about a Police Scotland investigation into the fate of £600,000 in donations to the SNP given to mount its next independence campaign, and the decision by her husband, Peter Murrell, the SNP chief executive, to lend the party £107,000.

Sturgeon also indicated she may not stand again for Holyrood in 2026, saying she would remain as an MSP for the remainder of her current term and make a final decision on defending her seat of Glasgow Southside closer to the election.

There had been growing speculation that Sturgeon was preparing to stand down at the next Scottish parliamentary election, but not so abruptly. She had repeatedly told reporters she had no plans to quit and intended to lead the Scottish government and SNP into the Holyrood elections in 2026.

Yet a series of opinion polls have shown popular support for Sturgeon personally and for the SNP and independence has fallen in recent weeks, partly fuelled by the intense controversy over Bryson.

A poll by the Sunday Times at the weekend showed 42% of voters wanted Sturgeon to immediately resign, while 45% said she should remain in post until the next Holyrood election and 13% did not know.

The poll found 15% of those who voted SNP at the 2019 general election wanted her to quit, as did 19% of those who voted yes at the 2014 independence referendum. However, 76% of SNP voters and 72% of yes voters wanted her to remain.