The news came on Wednesday that Scotland’s former first minister will not seek election to the Scottish Parliament for the first time since it was reconvened in 1999. Nicola Sturgeon’s announcement that she will stand down at the 2026 Holyrood election marks the end of an era for the most electorally dominant UK party leader since Tony Blair.
If her predecessor won Holyrood elections and precipitated a referendum he was never expected to win, Sturgeon undeniably brought sustained electoral success. At the same time, the former FM was having to react to events outwith her control – like Brexit – by marshalling the SNP coalition into a more durable one that could deliver sustained support for independence. Her towering achievement will be making it too risky for the UK government to allow another referendum, and thereby scorching the moderate unionist myth that the UK is a voluntary union.
As we approach the 10th anniversary of the historic 2015 general election victory that brought Sturgeon to the centre of UK politics, it can be tempting to assume that because many of the faces in the party are the same that nothing has changed.
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