SCOTLAND’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is the leader of the Scottish National Party.
Here’s the lowdown on the woman who has been determined to break up the United Kingdom.
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SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has been voted one of the world’s most powerful women
Who is Nicola Sturgeon? What’s her background?
Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon, 49, was born in Irvine, Scotland, the third daughter of electrician Robin and dental nurse Joan, who was an SNP councillor in the Ayrshire town.
She grew up in nearby Prestwick and Dreghorn and as a child was said to have devilishly hacked the hair off her sister’s doll.
Nicola joined the SNP aged 16. Asked recently what she would say to her 16-year-old self she replied: “Lighten up… and then the girl of 16 would say eff off.”
After studying law at Glasgow University she worked as a solicitor in the city before entering the newly devolved Scottish Parliament in 1999 as a regional MSP for Glasgow.
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In 2004 she ran against her close pal Roseanna Cunningham to be party leader and looked to be heading for defeat when she withdrew her candidacy to support her mentor Alex Salmond, who went on to become leader for the second time.
The party ousted Labour in 2007 and Mr Salmond became Scotland’s First Minister with Ms Sturgeon as his deputy.
She has a reputation in Scottish politics for being too serious – earning her the nickname “nippy sweetie”, meaning a prickly character who is difficult to warm to.
She supports Ayr United FC.
When did Nicola Sturgeon become SNP leader and First Minister?
The independence referendum in September 2014 was a crushing blow for the SNP as Scots voted 55 per cent to 45 per cent against splitting from the United Kingdom.
Salmond quit after the result, and Nicola Sturgeon was elected unopposed as party leader in November that year.
She also became First Minister, the first woman to hold either position.
The following May the SNP made huge gains at the UK general election, almost winning a clean sweep as they picked up 56 out of 59 seats in Scotland.
In May 2016 she cemented her position as First Minister of Scotland as the party won the most seats at Holyrood, although it lost its overall majority.
Forbes magazine rated her the second most powerful woman in the UK and the 50th in the world.
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Who is Nicola Sturgeon’s husband?
Nicola Sturgeon is married to Peter Murrell, who is the chief executive of the Scottish National Party.
They met when Nicola was 18 at a Young Scottish Nationalists gathering in Aberdeenshire.
They began a relationship in 2003 and married in 2010. They have no children.
She revealed she had suffered a miscarriage in 2011 when she was 40, but kept it private to avoid being defined by the tragedy.
Sturgeon admitted in a book she does not know if she could have “had it all” and led Scotland’s devolved government as a mum.
She said: “If the miscarriage hasn’t happened, would I be sitting here as First Minister right now? It’s unanswerable.”
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What has Nicola Sturgeon said about a second referendum on Scottish independence?
Alex Salmond had promised the 2014 referendum was a “once-in-a-lifetime” event.
But the day after the Brexit vote in June 2016, his successor Nicola Sturgeon announced plans for legislation paving the way for a second referendum on leaving the UK.
She pushed ahead with her demands in 2017 and blasted Theresa May for blocking the ballot.
But her stance backfired when polls showed only a quarter of Scots want a second referendum and opposition to splitting from Britain has hardened.
Ms Sturgeon had also made Brexit a key plank of her general election campaign, as the majority of Scots voted against leaving the EU.
But she came under pressure on the SNP government’s record on education and was savaged by a nurse on TV over under-funding of the NHS.
Figures revealed the SNP has been banging on about independence every week since the No vote in 2014.
As predicted the party lost seats in the June 8 General Election and Nicola Sturgeon hinted that a second referendum on Scottish independence could be shelved.
On July 29 the newly appointed Prime Minister Boris Johnson held talks with Ms Sturgeon in Scotland in a bid to keep the Union together over Brexit.
Sources claim Ms Sturgeon set out her “strong opposition” to a cliff-edge EU exit in a phone call with Mr Johnson.
