With a view towards Brexit, Sturgeon demanded greater powers for the Scottish Parliament, arguing that Brexit is threatening Scotland's devolution settlement. [262] With London seeking to restrict immigration to the United Kingdom, she asserted that Scotland should be able to set its own immigration policy, as well as policies relating to employment and trade. [262] United States Sturgeon and Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi in Glasgow, November 2021 Under-fire SNP leader resigns". BBC News. 22 June 2004. Archived from the original on 27 June 2004 . Retrieved 17 January 2011.

Keith Brown and Stewart Hosie stand for SNP deputy leadership". Telegraph.co.uk. 25 September 2014. Archived from the original on 13 November 2014 . Retrieved 19 November 2014. Lily Allen steps out without her wedding ring during a stroll in NYC - after herhusband David Harbour broke his silence about split rumours Sturgeon stood for election to the Scottish Parliament in the first Scottish Parliament election in 1999 as the SNP candidate for Glasgow Govan. [24] Although she failed to win the seat, she was placed first in the SNP's regional list for the Glasgow region, and was thus elected as a Member of the Scottish Parliament. The SNP emerged as the second largest party and sat in opposition to the Labour-Lib Dem coalition. In Alex Salmond's shadow cabinet, she served as Shadow Minister for Children and Education from 1999 to 2000. She has at times been a critic of austerity, saying that the UK government's "austerity economics" is "morally unjustifiable and economically unsustainable". [276] However, in 2018 she endorsed her party's Growth Commission report that pledged to reduce an independent Scotland's budget deficit as a percentage of GDP [277] – something the Institute for Fiscal Studies concluded meant "continued austerity". [278] [279] Social issues Women's rights Sir Rod Stewart flashes the middle finger at the Celtic v Motherwell football match after he is booed byThe Green BrigadeI'm A Celebrity's Jamie Lynn Spears speaks out on her relationship with sister Britney, as she admits: 'Family's fight. Listen, we just do it better than most' As part of the SNP's 2016 manifesto policy, the SNP pledged to voters review and reform the way that trans people change their legal gender. [225] However, the policy divided the party and it the bill was delayed during Sturgeon's second term in office because of opposition to the policy and the COVID-19 pandemic. [226] [227] [228] 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. [229] [230]

In March 2021, the Court of Session declared that the Scottish Government's prohibition on communal worship, imposed during the pandemic, was unlawful. [168] This followed an open letter two months earlier, written by 200 church leaders to Sturgeon, warning her that the prohibition could be unlawful. [169] Can there really be a national shortage of balding blokes in chinos and desert boots, bumbling around behind their purposeful wives? I don't think so. Meanwhile, with a slew of new Diana works in the pipeline — including a four-part Channel 4 documentary, Investigating Diana: Death In Paris later this month, plus another Panorama documentary on Sunday based on the discredited Martin Bashir interview — many are wondering if William and Harry should be consulted over such projects. The 1997 general election saw Sturgeon selected to fight the Glasgow Govan seat for the SNP. Boundary changes meant that the notional Labour majority in the seat had increased substantially. However, infighting between the two rival candidates for the Labour nomination, Mohammed Sarwar and Mike Watson, along with an energetic local campaign, [ citation needed] resulted in Glasgow Govan being the only Scottish seat to see a swing away from Labour in the midst of a Labour landslide nationwide. Sarwar did, however, win the seat with a majority of 2,914 votes. [23] Shortly after this, Sturgeon was appointed as the SNP's spokesperson for energy and education matters. [ citation needed] Early parliamentary career SNP in opposition Sturgeon speaking to the Scottish Parliament, 2003 Further information: COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland Sturgeon at a Scottish Government daily COVID-19 briefingSturgeon confirmed in June 2016 that the Scottish government had formally agreed to draft legislation to allow a second independence referendum to take place. [125] As the constitution is a reserved matter under the Scotland Act 1998, for a future referendum on Scottish independence to be legal under UK law, it would need to receive the consent of the British Parliament to take place. [126] Omid Scobie's scathing book expected to blame embattled civil servant Simon Case for deepening the rift between William and Harry I'm A Celeb's viewers SLAM 'insensitive' Nella Rose after she tells ADHD sufferer Sam Thompson to 'calm down': 'Educate yourself!' In June 2022, Sturgeon officially unveiled plans for Scottish independence once again. [207] She argued that her government had an "indisputable mandate" for a second Scottish independence referendum. She argued that independence would allow Scotland to set out "a different and better vision" [208] [209] and claimed that there is a legally secure path to get a referendum without permission from the cabinet. [210] This plan has been met with condemnation from various opposing parties, with the Prime Minister rejecting her plan. [211]