Aftermath Of Nicola Sturgeon’s Resignation- Farheen Alom GGS

Following the resignation of Scotland’s first female prime minister since 2014, the people of Scotland are in turmoil over who will govern and what will happen next. Based on the many ongoing issues still circulating such as the independence referendum and the Gender Recognition Reform Bill, this article will discuss who is currently in the running for PM and whether they will be able to tackle these issues plaguing Scotland.

Who is Likely to Become PM?

There are currently three confirmed candidates in the running for Sturgeon’s successor: Humza Yousaf (Health Secretary and MSP since 2011), Kate Forbes (Finance Secretary, elected to Holvrood in 2016) and Ash Regan (former community safety minister, elected to Holyrood in 2016). There is however, no clear line as to who will become successor and a recent poll has shown that 69% of Scottish voters did not have,a preference as to which SNP politician should become PM.

Independence Referendum:

Before recent events, the Scottish government had plans to hold b second independence referendum before the end of the current Scottish Parliament. Nicola Sturgeon had previously stated that this would be held before the end of 2023 however, considering her resignation, there are many questions and discussions about whether the next Scottish Parliament will still go through with this. Many sources seem to suggest that this referendum may be delayed 5 years while others seem to suggest that the whole proposal has been scrapped altogether. The committee however have confirmed that the special conference had been ‘postponed’ and that their main focus now is to ‘get ourselves into a position where we get sustained majority support for independence’- Stewart Mcdonald, former NP defence spokesperson at Westminster.

GENDER RECOGNITION REFORM BILL: 

In December 2022, Scotland voted to pass this bill but a month later. the UK government enacted a Section 35 order- blocking the bill from becoming law, the first time Westminster had interfered in Scottish politics since 1999. Nicola Sturgeon had vowed to fight the UK government in the courts on this case however, but in regards to her recent resignation, this does not seem to be the case nor do any of her successors seem inclined towards this either. Only one of her potential replacements (Humza Yousaf) has committed to sticking by the bill. Neither the SNP nor the Scottish Government would provide a statement on whether the bill would be extended but Vic Valentine, manager of Scottish trans. criticised the UK government for giving ‘absolutely no indication of what changes would cause them to revoke the section 35 order’