Scottish PM announces surprise resignation

Nicola Sturgeon, the leader of Scotland and flag bearer for its independence, announced her surprise resignation on February 15.

“I believe that part of serving well would be to know, almost instinctively, when the time is right to make way for someone else,” she said, according to Washington Post. "In my head and in my heart I know that time is now.”

She said she will stay in place until a new leader is chosen.

Sturgeon, the leader of the Scottish National Party, has been in office for eight years, making her the country’s longest-serving first minister, and has spent her political career pushing her party’s dream of breaking away from the United Kingdom and becoming independent.

Once independent, the next step was expected to be an application to rejoin the European Union which Britain had left.

Sturgeon have tangled over the years with a string of British prime minister, most notably Boris Johnson, over issues of self-government. She maintains that Scots live by decisions made in faraway London by lawmakers and bureaucrats.

She became the first minister in November 2014, when she took over from her mentor, former leader of the SNP Alex Salmond, following the independence referendum.

The nationalists lost the referendum, which saw voters asked plainly “Should Scotland be an independent country?” The answer 55 per cent said no and 45 per cent said yes.

Sturgeon pressed Johnson to allow Scotland to stage another referendum, but Johnson insisted the 2014 ballot was a “once in a generation” vote.

Fervour for independence has remained mostly flat. Support for independence dropped in recent polling, from 53 per cent to 47 per cent among decided voters. Support for the SNP and Sturgeon is also down.