Nicola Sturgeon: the First Minister 'holding all the aces'

Name:

Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon

School:

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Dreghorn Primary School and Greenwood Academy

University:

University of Glasgow (LLB and diploma)

Fondness for:

Indian takeaways, Borgen, the colour red, theatre and historical fiction

What is Sturgeon's background?

Sturgeon joined the SNP at the age of 16 and first stood for election in 1992 in the Glasgow Shettleston constituency. At 21, she was the youngest parliamentary candidate in Scotland, but unsurprisingly failed to win the staunch Labour seat. After qualifying with a law degree, Sturgeon worked as a solicitor at Drumchapel Law Centre. She was later elected as an MSP representing the city of Glasgow in 1999 and was re-elected in 2003. In 2007, she won the Glasgow Govan constituency from Labour and is now MSP for Glasgow Southside.

What about her family life?

Sturgeon was born in the North Ayrshire town of Irvine in 1970 to dental-nurse Joan and electrician Robert. She says she grew up in a "fairly standard, normal, working-class family" with a "fairly unremarkable" childhood. The First Minister is married to Peter Murrell, SNP's chief executive, who she first met at an SNP youth weekend in Aberdeenshire in 1988. They married in 2010.

How did she become SNP leader?

After winning the Glasgow Govan seat in 2007, Sturgeon was made Deputy First Minister and Health Secretary, winning popularity for scrapping prescription and hospital car park charges. She was later given the responsibility of overseeing the Scottish independence referendum last year. When Alex Salmond stood down after the referendum, Sturgeon was elected unopposed as SNP leader on 19 November 2014.

What does Sturgeon stand for?

After succeeding Salmond, Sturgeon announced that a second Scottish independence referendum was at the top of her political agenda, and one of her first acts as First Minister was to create a gender-balanced cabinet. She has named Nelson Mandela and Scottish nationalist Winnie Ewing among her heroes and told the Financial Times that she gets "very angry at the degree of inequality we have in a very rich country".

How popular is Sturgeon?

In October last year, Sturgeon topped a Scottish politician trust rating poll, with 54 per cent of people believing she would stand up for the country's interests. Her popularity has risen south of the border following the ITV leaders' debate on 2 April. The First Minister, who is not even standing at the general election in May, was named the winner of the debate by a YouGov poll with 28 per cent of people saying she gave the best performance. Other surveys put her in the top four. With polls in Scotland pointing to a significant increase in SNP seats in May, Sturgeon "is the woman who now holds all the aces", says the Scottish Daily Mail's Chris Deerin.

What's her worst gaffe?

As Deputy First Minister, Sturgeon issued an apology in 2010 for lobbying a court to give a constituent a non-custodial sentence after he admitted an £80,000 benefits fraud. "I assisted a constituent in good faith and for what I considered to be the right reasons, but in doing so I did get some things wrong and for that I am sorry," she said. The incident initially prompted demands for her resignation, but after the apology the opposition accepted that she had shown "humility".