RISE AND FALL OF SCOTLAND’S ‘NIPPY SWEETIE’
1999 May
Becomes MSP for Glasgow in the first election to the devolved Scottish Parliament, having joined the SNP as a 16-year-old
2004 September
Elected as the SNP’S deputy leader after dropping out of the leadership race to back Alex Salmond
2007 May
Appointed health secretary and deputy first minister under Salmond after the SNP becomes Holyrood’s largest party
2012 September
Appointed infrastructure secretary and put in charge of overseeing the country’s independence referendum
2014 November
Elected as SNP leader and First Minister after Scotland rejects independence and Alex Salmond resigns
2017 January
Hands out “baby boxes” to new parents, later naming the initiative as one of her proudest achievements
2021 March
Found to have misled Parliament in her account of meetings with Salmond to discuss sexual assault claims
2021 July
Husband Peter Murrell breaks Electoral Commission rules by failing to declare a £107,620 interest-free loan
2022 October
Reforms to gender recognition prompt the largest rebellion of the SNP’S time in government, with nine MSPS defying the whip
2023 February
Announces that she will stand down as SNP leader and First Minister, admitting that she has become a “polarising” figure
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2023-03-25T07:00:00.0000000Z
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https://dailytelegraph.pressreader.com/article/282338274124070
Daily Telegraph