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