When Nicola Sturgeon announced her resignation as First Minister last month, the world of Scottish politics was taken by storm.
But with the former First Minister having been in office for the last nine years, it was clear that her resignation arrived not a moment too soon. Nicola Sturgeon leaves behind a legacy of broken promises, failed policies, and a divided country.
Nearly every public service in Scotland has been left in a worst state than when she took office. We have an NHS with record-high waiting lists. We have councils stretched to breaking point following years of budget cuts. And we have ferries rusting in the docks before they’ve served a single island – but not before they’ve cost Scottish taxpayers over £250 million.
And of course, on the one issue that she asked us to judge her on – closing the attainment gap in our schools – she made almost no progress at all.
But her legacy goes well beyond her headline failures. When looking back through the years, her critics are spoilt for choice.
There was the failed Named Person policy which ran into human rights challenges. Then there was the failed Education Bill to reform our schools, which ended up being scrapped. Sturgeon also introduced a Bill to incorporate the UNCRC into Scottish law, which ended up in the Supreme Court when the Bill turned out to be nothing more than an attempt to score political points by playing constitutional games.
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Then there was the shambolic Gender Recognition Reform Bill. Sturgeon and her government railroaded this through the Scottish Parliament in the face of continuous opposition from the public, from women’s rights organisations, and even from the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women.
But ultimately, the Bill resulted in yet another constitutional fight when the UK Government was forced to intervene and prevent it from becoming law.
Unfortunately, anyone hoping that a new First Minister will signal a change of direction for the SNP government will be disappointed. This is a party that places its obsession with a second independence referendum at its centre – and at the expense of every other area of government.
This was clear to see in the recent leadership election, where all three candidates made no attempt to hide their obsession with independence.
But judging by recent numbers, even the SNP’s own members are growing tired of the party. It will only be a matter of time before the Scottish electorate does too.
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