Nicola Sturgeon announces she will not seek re-election

Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon will not seek re-election to Holyrood next year, she has announced.

The ex-SNP leader has been an MSP since 1999 and said representing Glasgow Southside had been "an honour beyond words".

In a post on Instagram, Ms Sturgeon added: "However, I have known in my heart for a while that the time is right for me to embrace different opportunities in a new chapter of my life.

"I have therefore written this morning to SNP members in my constituency informing them that I will not be seeking selection for next year's Holyrood election."

Ms Sturgeon thanked past and present constituents for the "trust" they had placed in her.

She added: "Being your MSP has been my privilege and I will continue to represent you to the best of my abilities until I step down next year.

"To Southside SNP members: your support, loyalty and friendship, through thick and thin, has meant more to me than you will ever know. You are the best of the best.

"To SNP members across the country: I may be leaving parliament, but I will be by your side every step of the way as we complete our journey to independence."

Ms Sturgeon joined the SNP when she was a teenager and worked as a solicitor before her election to the Scottish parliament in 1999.

She succeeded the late Alex Salmond as first minister of Scotland after his resignation in 2014 following the results of the Scottish independence referendum.

Ms Sturgeon was the first woman to hold both positions of SNP leader and first minister, and was the longest-serving first minister in Scottish history until her shock resignation in 2023.

During her time in charge, she led Scotland's response to the COVID pandemic, and was responsible for setting up the nation's devolved benefits agency.

When she stepped down, Ms Sturgeon denied controversy surrounding the Scottish government's Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill had played a part in her decision.

In the weeks leading up to her departure there had been a public outcry over transgender double rapist Isla Bryson being housed in an all-female prison before swiftly being moved to the male estate.

And then in April 2023, her husband - and former SNP chief executive - Peter Murrell was arrested in relation to a police probe into the SNP's funding and finances.

He was later charged with embezzling party funds.

Ms Sturgeon and ex-party treasurer MSP Colin Beattie were also arrested and released without charge as part of Police Scotland's long-running Operation Branchform.

The probe, which has been ongoing since July 2021, is linked to the spending of around £600,000 raised by SNP supporters to be earmarked for Scottish independence campaigning.

Ms Sturgeon continues to deny any wrongdoing.

Earlier this year, Ms Sturgeon announced she and Mr Murrell had "decided to end" their marriage.

Ms Sturgeon is expected to release a book about her life and political career this summer.

MSP Rachael Hamilton, deputy leader of the Scottish Conservatives, said: "We wish any departing MSP well, regardless of their party or politics.

"But we cannot forget the deep divisions in our country that Nicola Sturgeon created, fostered and encouraged.

"By any objective analysis, her record as first minister is one of failure. Scottish education standards collapsed on her watch and the poverty-related attainment gap, which she promised to eradicate, widened.

"She presided over a drugs-death emergency, a ferries scandal, a crisis in our NHS, crumbling roads - and all while raising taxes on hard-working Scots, which stifled economic growth.

"Her reckless gender self-ID policy betrayed women, her soft-touch approach to justice betrayed victims and her shameful deletion of COVID WhatsApp messages denied bereaved families answers and highlighted the secrecy and cynicism that characterised her government."