Nicola Sturgeon
Nicola Sturgeon
Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon PCis a Scottish politician who is the fifth and current First Minister of Scotland and the leader of the Scottish National Party, in office since 2014. She is the first woman to hold either position. Sturgeon has been a member of the Scottish Parliament since 1999, first as an additional member for the Glasgow electoral region from 1999 to 2007, and as the member for Glasgow Southside since 2007...
NationalityScottish
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth19 July 1970
CityIrvine, Scotland
Scotland has a great deal to offer the world in terms of our approach to key economic and social issues.
Scotch beef, salmon and shellfish are recognised the world over for their excellence and Scottish provenance. People recognise the Scottish brand. They associate the country with quality food and drink, and clearly other Scottish sectors, such as dairy, can benefit from that, too.
Since I became First Minister, I have made clear my priority to alleviate poverty and tackle inequality in Scotland. Ensuring that everyone can do better in life will not only make Scotland fairer, but it will also make it a more prosperous place.
Most people would agree that the E.U. is too bureaucratic, not transparent or democratic enough and that it often interferes too much in matters that are best left to national governments.
The fact that healthier lifestyles and advances in medicine mean that we are living longer is actually something to be celebrated.
The debate around the ageing population should, in my view, focus much more on how we grow the active, working population.
American companies based in Scotland employ large numbers of people - in fact, we are the best performing part of the U.K., outside London and the southeast of England when it comes to attracting foreign direct investment.
U.K. welfare cuts are pushing more children into poverty; that is beyond dispute.
Instead of an end to austerity, Labour has made clear that it wants to impose more austerity cuts.
In particular, I want to set a challenge to public bodies and private companies to improve gender balance on their own boards.
I hope it doesn't cause any added distress to Robin Cook's family.
I'm a politician, and as you know, politicians are rarely very funny.
If there are healthy - and growing - numbers of people working and paying taxes, we are better able to pay the costs of people living longer.
Too often in the past, Scotland has been sidelined and ignored in the Westminster corridors of power, but that doesn't have to be the case anymore.