3 h. ago Remember when having women in power was supposed to change everything? | Gaby Hinsliff

The careers of Sturgeon, Merkel and Ardern show how foolish it is to idealise leaders just for being womenNicola Sturgeon was always afraid of failure. But it was a very particular kind of failure she feared; one that follows a very particular kind of success. Living up to the fact of being Scotland’s first female first minister became, she writes in her new memoir, “almost an obsession”, which is arguably unhealthy but not unreasonable. To be the first woman (or indeed the first minority) in any field is to be uncomfortably aware of being on probation: the test case that sceptics will use to decide whether women in general can really hack it, but also the yardstick by which other women will judge whether representation actually makes a difference.You daren’t betray anything that looks like a sign of weakness, yet at the same time you’re endlessly under pressure to spill your guts on all the intimate stuff – miscarriage and menopause in Sturgeon’s case, pregnancy in high office for ...

Politics

6 h. ago Nicola Sturgeon's attainment gap regret comes too late and more must be done

"Her regret is welcome but it comes way too late. It is a pity that she didn’t do more to fix the problem when she was in power."

Politics

8 h. ago TOM UTLEY: I was once fiercely proud of being a Londoner born and bred. But as Sturgeon seeks greener pastures and after nine years of the Khan Terror, Mrs U and I are thinking the unthinkable...

Nicola Sturgeon, former First Minister of Scotland, who has spent her entire life fighting for Scottish independence and slagging off evil England, now says she's thinking of leaving her native land.

Events

12 h. ago JK Rowling claims Sturgeon created a 'dystopian nightmare' in foul

JK Rowling has published a review of Nicola Sturgeon’s Frankly - and the Harry Potter author has not held back

Politics

12 h. ago JK Rowling blasts Sturgeon memoirs as a 'shameless denial of reality and hard facts' in scathing review

Author JK Rowling has penned a scathing review of Nicola Sturgeon 's hotly anticipated memoirs on the day it was officially launched.

Politics

13 h. ago JK Rowling rips into Nicola Sturgeon's memoir in brutal foul mouthed review

JK Rowling has published a scathing review of Nicola Sturgeon's memoir, Frankly, on her website.

Politics

15 h. ago Sturgeon: I do not agree with Forbes being banned by Fringe venue

Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes has been banned by the Summerhall venue because of her views on trans rights.

Events

17 h. ago Sturgeon says she could foster a child if her life ‘calms down sufficiently’

The former Scottish first minister spoke about the prospect at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Politics

17 h. ago Sturgeon: I was not victim of ‘coercive control’ by former mentor Salmond

Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon was questioned on her relationship with her predecessor at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Events

18 h. ago Nicola Sturgeon predicts Queen's death was 'beginning of the end' for monarchy in UK

The former first minister praised the late Queen's "mystique" which she claimed other members of the Royal Family lack.

Politics

18 h. ago Sturgeon tells of fresh abuse in ‘toxic’ trans rights debate

The former Scottish first minister was speaking at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on Thursday.

Events

19 h. ago Nicola Sturgeon claims baby box will help reduce child poverty attainment gap 'in time'

The former first minister pledged in 2015 "to close the attainment gap completely" but latest exam results show it remains at 17 per cent.

Politics

20 h. ago 'I could fall for a woman', says Nicola Sturgeon as Scotland's former first minister explains why she doesn't see her sexuality as 'binary'

The former Scottish first minister said she was 'not sticking any labels' on her sexual orientation as she was quizzed about a passage in her newly-published memoir.

Politics

21 h. ago Fruit purees to add class to homemade summer cocktails | Hannah Crosbie on drinks

A good cocktail takes skill, and one of those skills is preparing the right ingredients There are many reasons I’ve never had a bar cart. For one thing, there’s something sublimely Abigail’s Party about having an area solely dedicated to drinking. Plus a bar cart says: “I have my life together! Friends regularly visit my house and enjoy doing so!” (Both things I’m unable to verify.)My new home, however, comes complete with a drinks trolley, yet I’m scared to touch it. Why? Mainly because I just don’t think I’m capable of producing something I’ll actually like. Besides chucking some cold gin in a coupe and dropping in a poorly cut toenail of lemon, my mixologist skills begin and end at lumping a few liquids in a jug and calling it a “lazy girl cocktail” – although “cocktail” feels a rather grandiose term for creating what is, essentially, a domestic version of a Wetherspoon’s pitcher. Continue reading...

Politics

24 h. ago Nicola Sturgeon admits 'soft spot' for the Daily Record and reveals paper helped her learn to read

The former first minister writes in her new book of her proud family connection to Scotland's number one newspaper.

Politics

28 h. ago Nicola Sturgeon’s immense political talent is undeniable. The nationalism was the problem | Martin Kettle

Many of her admirers gloss over her desire to break up the UK as Scotland’s first minister. But in her open and touching memoir, it plays a starring roleNicola Sturgeon was – and still is – important, talented, personable and, to many, inspirational. She was also extremely lucky and often wrong, sometimes seriously so. There are examples of all these qualities in her newly published memoir, Frankly. Sturgeosceptics should concede at once that it contains much that is fascinating, especially about her relations with her charismatic mentor turned vengeful enemy Alex Salmond. Starry-eyed Sturgies should equally admit she made several deep and lasting errors that have left behind a divided nationalist party and movement.The book is more open and touching about private issues than most political memoirs, although Sturgeon deploys these qualities selectively. Many of the intimate reflections are about being a woman in politics. Other memoirs by female politicians – including those of Marg...

Politics

40 h. ago Sturgeon’s ‘Stalinist’ approach disastrous for SNP, claims Joanna Cherry

Lawyer Joanna Cherry said she has never been friends with former first minister Nicola Sturgeon.

Events

40 h. ago Readers' letters: Calling Nicola Sturgeon 'divisive' is Orwellian revisionism

A reader takes issue with critics describing the ex-first minister as a ‘divisive’ figure

Politics

40 h. ago Nicola Sturgeon's supportive lesbian circle as she says her sexuality isn't 'binary'... from TV presenter she shared warm embrace with to ally whose flat she used: GAVIN MADELEY

In her new memoir, Frankly, Nicola Sturgeon laughs off the baseless online rumours that she conducted some kind of lesbian affair with France 's ex-ambassador to the UK, Catherine Colonna.

Events

47 h. ago Frankly by Nicola Sturgeon: The secret to happiness? It’s not politics

Frankly is Nicola Sturgeon’s bid to “reveal the person behind the politician”. As she puts it, “The seemingly confident, combative woman who dominated Scottish politics for more than a decade, unnerved the Westminster establishment, helped lead Scotland to the verge of independence and steered it through a global pandemic, is painfully shy, an introvert.”

Politics