Was Britain’s Most Effective Politician Undone By Transphobia?

Adebayo Adeniran
4 min readFeb 17, 2023

And what will this mean for Scottish independence?

Nicola Sturgeon flanked by members of the SNP. Image via Wikimedia Commons

Nicola Sturgeon has resigned as the leader of the Scottish National Party.

In a move which shocked millions across the country, Ms. Sturgeon announced that she would be standing down as the first minister of Scotland.

Her enemies on all sides of the political divide received the news of her impending departure with great joy, not least because of the degree to which she shaped the political agenda in the United Kingdom prior to the 2016 referendum and its extraordinary aftermath.

Before she stepped into the breach, the Scottish National Party, was nothing more than a fringe movement and one that seemed wholly incapable of challenging the status quo in Westminster and in Scotland.

Her former mentor — Alex Salmond —began the process of moving the SNP to the center of British politics, first by achieving a majority in the Scottish parliament and secondly by announcing a referendum on Scottish independence.

Salmond stepped aside on losing the referendum vote in 2014, thus paving the way for Ms. Sturgeon, to usher in a new era in British politics.

2015 saw record numbers of SNP politicians winning seats in the house of parliament in…

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Adebayo Adeniran

A lifelong bibliophile, who seeks to unleash his energy on as many subjects as possible