The demise of Nicola Sturgeon: which Highland politicians predicted it?
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Last week we asked if time was running out for Nicola Sturgeon after several months of almost unprecedented controversy over her leadership.
Gender reform, A9 dualling, the internal running of the SNP, failure to secure IndyRef2 and other issues mounted.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has never looked weaker after one recent poll saw a 'No' vote to independence take a 12 point lead.
The consummate communicator was fumbling her lines. She was unable to say whether she thinks double rapist Isla Bryson is a man or woman despite earlier suggesting that they are "almost certainly" faking being trans.
The impact on her base support is beginning to show as 37 per cent of yes voters in 2014 back the UK government's move to block gender recognition.
It is fair to note she is still well ahead of other party leaders like Douglas Ross (Conservatives) and Anas Sarwar (Labour), but Ms Sturgeon has been damaged.
An Ipsos poll published yesterday shows 43 per cent of the public have a favourable opinion of Ms Sturgeon but an identical percentage have an unfavourable one and that is down from the positive net score of +8 recorded in October 2022.
According to Ipsos, over a range of policy areas more people think the Scottish Government has done a bad job since the 2021 Holyrood elections than think it has done a good job.
The poll suggests that the government has done a bad job on key areas like – the NHS (53 per cent have a negative view); the personal standard of living (44 per cent); the economy (47 per cent); and education (44 per cent).
And to add to the woes of the embattled First Minister this afternoon transport minister Jenny Gilruth had to stand up in Holyrood and confirm what most already knew – the keynote A9 dualling programme will not be finished by 2025.
So we asked the Highland MSPs what they think about Nicola Sturgeon’s position, here is what they said:
Douglas Ross, Scottish Conservative leader, Highlands and Islands MSP
“Nicola Sturgeon has shown herself to be badly out-of-touch with the public who are firmly opposed to her gender reform bill.
“She has tied herself in knots on the whole issue and has been unable to answer straightforward questions.
“The public have made their feelings clear that they feel she has mishandled this legislation badly and are they have a much less favourable view on her as a result.
“The reality is that Nicola Sturgeon leads a tired and failing SNP government and party who are now at war with each other and distracted from tackling the real priorities of Scots.”
Edward Mountain,Conservative, Highlands and Islands MSP
“The SNP Government have long run out of ideas and now the First Minister’s credibility is disappearing too.
“Whether it’s the botched attempts to hold another divisive referendum or force through controversial gender reforms, the First Minister has made a series of misjudgements recently and her continued leadership is beginning to look untenable.
“Scotland needs a change from a First Minister who is clearly out of touch with the issues that matter most to people – health, education and the economy.”
Jamie Halcro Johnston, Conservative, Highlands and Islands MSP
“It is becoming increasingly clear to everyone that the clock is ticking on Nicola Sturgeon’s leadership.
“Key projects like dualling the A9 and A96, and building new ferries, remain undelivered. There is a growing crisis in our health services and real educational challenges facing our schools. Local public services are increasingly threatened by the SNP government’s squeeze on local government funding.
“And having positioned herself and her party on the wrong side of public opinion on her Gender Recognition Reform Bill, she simply doesn’t have the political capital left to just deflect away criticism of the SNP’s appalling record of failure.
“She has also lost the support of large swathes of her party - both the membership and her parliamentary colleagues – because of her intransigence on gender reform and her repeated failure to deliver another independence referendum.
“She is so politically weak that MPs and MSPs are now openly briefing against her, and when 9 of her MSPs defied party orders to back the Gender Recognition Reform Bill, she wasn’t able to take any disciplinary action against those rebels.
“The problem for the SNP is deciding on who will come next. There is no credible candidate to replace Sturgeon – she’s almost clinging on by default - and all potential challengers are tarnished by association with a leader and a government that has failed to deliver”.
Rhoda Grant, Labour, Highlands and Islands MSP
“I think it is correct that the First Minister, indeed any leader, has their performance scrutinised.
“Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP Government has underfunded councils for 15 years, making repeated cuts that impact on every community, our roads are crumbling and teachers are on strike, yet they squander money on vanity projects and incompetence.
“Our NHS is in crisis and with it our social care sector. Only today they have announced further delays to the A9 dualling, bringing into question whether this will happen at all. The First Minister’s leadership is being rightly questioned."
Maree Todd, Minister for Health, Caithness, Sutherland and Ross MSP
“Nicola Sturgeon continues to demonstrate strong leadership and resilience in the face of constant UK government chaos and an often toxic political climate.
"Like many women in leadership, she regularly faces casual misogyny and is held to different standards to male counterparts but that only seems to make her stronger."
Emma Roddick, SNP, Highlands and Islands MSP
"Just because, up to now, Nicola Sturgeon has often made her job look easy, does not mean it is. She is leading a country, there will be challenges and she continues to rise to them.
“Over the pandemic, the contrast between her open, honest dealing of issues with Partygate and reckless decisions by the UK Government gained her cross-party respect, and international recognition.
“I think it would be daft of the SNP to consider replacing a First Minister who has won us seven consecutive elections, is ahead of every other leader in the polls, and still has a lot left to give.”
Ariane Burgess, Greens, Highlands and Islands MSP
"No. With the Scottish Greens in Government thanks in part to our record result in the Highlands and Islands, the polls clearly show the electorate believe the First Minister and others including our two Green ministers are doing an excellent job for people and for planet."
