by Andrew McDonald at Politico
Nicola Sturgeon is resigning as Scotland’s first minister in a move that stunned her pro-independence party and fired the starting pistol on the race to succeed her.
The Scottish National Party leader — who has led the party and the country’s devolved government since 2014 — made the shock announcement at a hastily arranged press conference Wednesday from her official residence in Edinburgh.
Citing the personal toll of the job and a desire to “free” her party to pick its own Scottish independence strategy, Sturgeon, 52, said it had been a “privilege beyond measure” to serve as first minister.
But she confirmed she had asked the SNP’s top brass to “begin the process of electing a new party leader” in the coming days.
Sturgeon will, she said, “remain in office until my successor is elected,” but made clear she believed it was now the “right time” to move on.
“I am proud to stand here as the first female and longest serving…
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