Correspondent in London
She was believed to be irremovable, leader for life, as she had embodied the independence movement for nearly a decade.
The one who was sometimes called the "
Queen of Scotland
" has thrown in the towel.
“
I am a human being
”, launched Nicola Sturgeon announcing her surprise decision.
The Prime Minister, who said she was still full of energy not long ago, admitted she was tired and too "
divided
" to continue to lead the fight.
An independence cause also at an impasse.
The leader of the SNP (Scottish National Party) was on the verge of tears at the hastily called press conference.
"
In my head and in my heart, I know the time has come, that it's good for me, for my party and for the country
," said the 52-year-old woman.
Nicolas Sturgeon explained that she wanted to get away from the "
brutality
" of modern political life.
And said she was particularly exhausted morally and physically by the pressure of managing the pandemic, and eager to regain a private life.
She assured that her decision was not the consequence of the recent turbulence which rocked Scotland.
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- "It's the right time": Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon resigns
Victim of “woke extremism”
Yet it would be “
woke extremism
” which caused the downfall of Nicola Sturgeon and sealed Scottish independence, according to Allister Heath, who writes in the Telegraph.
In recent weeks, the Prime Minister has been seriously weakened by a controversy over a law facilitating gender transition, permitted from the age of 16 and without medical advice, adopted in December in the Edinburgh Parliament.
Many feminist associations have gone to war against this text, believing in particular that sexual predators could use it to access places reserved for women.
The writer JK Rowling, who lives in Scotland and is the bane of trans activists, has also stepped up to the front.
Read alsoNicola Sturgeon: “Scotland is determined to follow a legal path to becoming an independent state”
London then took out
the "nuclear option
", Rishi Sunak deciding to use the right of veto to block a law having an impact on "
the safety of women and children in the rest of the United Kingdom"
.
A first since the creation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999. A concrete controversy was quick to erupt at the end of January when a transgender woman, convicted in Scotland for the rape of two women before her transition in 2016 and 2019, was likely to be incarcerated in a women's prison.
All political sides combined, deputies violently rebelled.
Labor itself has denounced the risk posed to women by a
'dangerous rapist
".
Nicola Sturgeon had to backtrack but the episode shook her up a little more, showing the serious problems posed by her law.
The other big reason for the decline of "House Sturgeon" is its contested strategy on independence.
The Prime Minister intended to make the next British general election a “
de facto
” referendum on independence.
An option chosen because of the refusal of the Conservative government of Boris Johnson to authorize a new consultation, a decision confirmed by the Supreme Court last November.
SNP MPs have challenged the strategy, fearing that turning an election into a single-issue vote could hurt the party at the ballot box.
Seeing his authority still weakened, Nicola Sturgeon had to give in and the independence party is to hold a special conference next month, during which other options will be discussed.
Read alsoWhy these French expatriates chose Scotland
Within his camp, some also criticize Sturgeon for having failed to convince on independence, the latest polls showing that the Scots are divided in a more or less equal way on the subject.
In 2014, they voted to stay in the UK by 55% to 45%.
But since then, Brexit, which they were mostly opposed to, had changed the situation, with polls regularly giving the "yes" to emancipation in the lead.
The SNP is also under attack for its record on education and health.
Having joined the SNP at the age of 16, Nicola Sturgeon took the lead in 2014, after the resignation of Alex Salmond.
She thus became the first woman to head the Scottish government.
For the Conservative governments in London, this energetic woman with short hair was a tough opponent.
She led the SNP to repeated electoral success, once again securing a pro-independence majority in local parliament with the Greens in May 2021.
The Prime Minister will remain in place until a successor is appointed.
She also refused to comment on who will take up the torch of the independence struggle.
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