Nicola Sturgeon says decision to stand down "is not a reaction to short-term pressures"
The longest serving - and first female - First Minister says she'll remain in office while the SNP select her successor.
Last updated 15th Feb 2023
Nicola Sturgeon has announced she will stand down as First Minister of Scotland after eight years.
In a shock announcement, the SNP leader told a press conference on Wednesday that she believes it is the right time to stand aside.
The longest serving - and first female - First Minister said from her residence at Bute House in Edinburgh that she will remain in office while the SNP select her successor.
"Since my very first moments in the job I have believed a part of serving well would be to know almost instinctively when the time is right to make way for someone else," she said.
"In my head and in my heart I know that time is now. That it's right for me, for my party and my country."
Nicola Sturgeon said she had instructed the national secretary of the SNP to begin the process of electing a new leader and that she would "remain in office until my successor is elected".
She said she knew there were some people who would "feel upset by this decision".
She added: "And of course for balance there will be some who, how can I put this, will cope with the news just fine, such is the beauty of democracy.
"But to those who do feel shocked or disappointed, or perhaps even a bit angry with me, please... be in no doubt that this is really hard for me.
"My decision comes from a place of duty and of love.
"Tough love, perhaps, but love nevertheless for my party and above all for the country."
Ms Sturgeon has said her decision to resign as First Minister of Scotland "is not a reaction to short-term pressures".
Setting out "as best as I can my reasons", Ms Sturgeon said: "First, though I know it will be tempting to see it as such, this decision is not a reaction to short-term pressures. Of course there are difficult issues confronting the government just now, but when is that ever not the case?
"I have spent almost three decades in frontline politics, a decade-and-a-half on the top or second-top rung of government.
"When it comes to navigating choppy waters, resolving seemingly intractable issues, or soldiering on when walking away would be the simpler option, I have plenty of experience to draw on.
"So if this was just a question of my ability or my resilience to get through the latest period of pressure I wouldn't be standing here today, but it's not.
"This decision comes from a deeper and longer-term assessment. I know it may seem sudden, but I have been wrestling with it, albeit with oscillating levels of intensity for some weeks.
"Essentially, I've been trying to answer two questions: Is carrying on right for me? And more importantly is me carrying on right for the country, for my party and for the independence cause I have devoted my life to?"
Nicola Sturgeon's time as First Minister
In November 2014 Nicola Sturgeon is elected as SNP leader and First Minister after Alex Salmond, the previous leader resigned following the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.
A few weeks later in December 2014 Nicola Sturgeon meets HM Queen at Buckingham Palace
In the 2015 General Election, Nicola Sturgeon embarks on a 5-day helicopter tour of Scotland. The SNP won a landslide election, winning 56 out of 59 Scottish seats in Westminster.
In 2016 the SNP lost its overall majority in the Scottish parliamentary elections but remained the largest party and Sturgeon continued as First Minister with a minority government. In October 2016 Nicola Sturgeon went to Downing Street for a meeting with then Prime Minister, Theresa May about the fallout from Brexit.
Here is Ms Sturgeon attending the opening of the Queensferry Crossing in September 2017 alongside HM Queen. The 2017 General election saw the SNP lose 21 seats in Westminter, but it still remained the biggest party in Scotland.
Nicola Sturgeon trying her hand at archery in 2017
July 2018 PRIDE Glasgow 2018 Nicola Sturgeon is pictured leading the walk up St Vincent St, Glasgow
Dec 2019: Nicola Sturgeon at a photo call with her SNP MPs outside the V&A Museum in Dundee. The SNP won 48 seats in the 2019 General election and were second place in the remaining 11 seats.
A pensive looking Nicola Sturgeon at Holyrood in March 2020 ahead of a statement from Health Minister, Jeane Freeman MSP on the state of Coronovirus in Scotland
November 2020 Nicola Sturgeon rriving at Holyrood wearing a face covering
March 2021 giving evidence to the Committee of the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints. The committee was set up to investigate how the Government breached its own guidelines in its original investigation into harassment claims against former First Minister Alex Salmond.
In 2021 Ms Sturgeon does what no other leader had done before and becomes First Minister for a third term in a row. The SNP won 64 of the 129 seats contested and formed a government with the Green Party.
May 2022 Nicola Sturgeon dons a 'Jimmy hat' as she gate crashes a hen-party during a visit to Portobello, Edinburgh, while on the local election campaign trail.
In June 2022, Sturgeon officially announced her plan for Scottish independence once again and said there was a way to get a referendum without permission from the UK Cabinet, but in November 2022 the Supreme Court ruled the Scottish Parliament does not have the power to legislate a referendum on independence.
In February 2023 Nicola Sturgeon announces her resignation as First Minister of Scotland. In a press conference she confirmed she would step down, but would remain in place until a new leader is elected.