1986: Just 17 years old and wet behind the ears a youthful Sturgeon joined the SNP and soon got stuck into political arguments with politicians many years her senior and electioneering with gusto. Her speedy acceptance as a budding politician of note was quite remarkable given her attention was also taken up with studies for a law degree at Glasgow University at Glasgow University and her early days in employment as a trainee solicitor at Drumchapel Law Centre.
1992 The problem politically was that she was universally disliked by many of her political colleagues and the public who viewed her as an aggressive hard-line humourless harpy with an unhealthy preference for trouser suits. But at the time she emerged there was a shortage of young talented Scottish nationalists and she able to apply for and be elected onto the SNP National Executive and unsuccessfully (gained less than 20% of the votes) stood as a candidate for the Shettleston seat in the Scottish parliamentary elections.
1997: She stood as a candidate for the Westminster seat of Glasgow Govan and lost. It wasn’t until 1999 when she finally gained a seat in the Scottish parliament as an unelected list MSP.
2004: John Swinney resigned. Sturgeon was convinced she would succeed him as party leader but her ambitions were dealt a severe blow when in an audacious change of mind Alex Salmond, took the job despite earlier insisting: “If nominated, I would decline; if drafted, I will defer and, if elected, I will resign.” But he was forced to throw his hat into the ring when it became obvious that Sturgeon was losing, badly, to Perth MSP Roseanna Cunningham.
Faced with humiliation Sturgeon abandoned her bid to lead the party and instead submitted her application for the Deputy leader’s job only a few hours before nominations closed, wrong footing Roseanna Cunninghan, who was denied time to muster sufficient support, out of the deputy leader post. Roseanna, who had enjoyed the company of Sturgeon on many nights dining out at Glasgow restuarants was appalled at Sturgeon’s treachery and with her political career effectively blunted she never forgave her. Friendship’s do not survive such betrayal.
With Alex away at Westminster Sturgeon took charge of the party at Holyrood. In an interview with the BBC when asked about her image change she said: “When you’re younger, you take yourself far too seriously – particularly being a young woman in politics, where you feel a pressure to be taken seriously. If I were honest, I was probably a bit po-faced”. Her new found persona confirmed she had dramatically reversed her opinion of Margaret Thatcher since her demeanour was now much more in common with the late Iron Lady than she would admit to. Previously Sturgeon opinioned : “it wasn’t fair, where a man would be judged ‘robust’, she was damned as “nippie”. He might be “articulate”, she would be “strident”.
2007: 21 years after she entered politics she was finally elected to the Scottish parliamentary seat of Glasgow Southside but her success would be attributed to the leadership of Alex Salmond whose electioneering skills and campaigning took the SNP into power in Scotland for the first time ever.
The election also introduced a “new” Sturgeon who had been equipped with effective public presentation skills after media consultants had conducted polls and identified her public weaknesses, which had to be overcome if the 2007 election was to be won. Formally “nippie sweetie” Sturgeon engaged with the public as a smiling, mild mannered and at times flirty young woman. She had been transformed.
2010: The icing on the cake!! Towards the end of 2003 the press revealed Sturgeon was in a relationship with Peter Murrell, Chief Executive of the SNP. After nearly seven years together they married in July 2010. While some within the Party were content with the new but unusual arrangement there were many whose views were much more cynical observing: “She part-controls the political side of things and he completely controls the organisational side of things. It’s a pretty powerful axis to be sat around one breakfast table.” It was her insistence on the continuance of the “special arrangement” when she became party leader that brought about the rift between herself and Alex who advised against it.
caltonjock 
I daresay none of us will ever really know what makes Nicola Sturgeon tick, and I do think a lot of her prickly behaviour is down to being a female in a man’s world, but that does not explain the feeling that she has never really been invested in independence. I suspect that Nicola will always be Nicola’s priority. Alex Salmond is a shrewd politician, none shrewder, but even he cannot be right about people all the time. Again, I suspect, but could be very wrong, that he went for the dual leadership because he could not hold her ambition down and thought to tame it a little and give her room to grow meantime.
That he kept to his word and stepped down after the referendum loss says much about his integrity, but he also dropped hints thereafter that she was not prioritising independence, and that seemed to irritate her and may have been the reason she went full tonto on the flawed procedure – she wanted him gone, and so did the Unionists, the Unionist media and Westminster and the British State, so that an alliance of self-interest was shared by all. I should imagine that the British security services have been very aware of Nicola Sturgeon’s (and her husband’s) life and long ago sussed that she was intransigent, didn’t listen to advice and would plough ahead regardless of any objections or evidence to the contrary. Perfect material for using.
She is also not prescient, and will be astonished when she does fall or has to be pushed or is persuaded at the point of the proverbial dagger to remove herself. The sheer determination to destroy all female rights and spaces, to mutilate children and pump them full of drugs and the attempted destruction of Salmond will come back to haunt her, and they will haunt her because she does appear to have a conscience of sorts, even if only vestigial.
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She modelled herself on Thatcher and her fall from grace and political downfall will be enjoyed by many Scots.
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I can’t say i’ve ever seen her on an AUOB march, might be because its about Scotland and Independence and not about Selfy Sturgeon. How anyone in the SNP believe she going to delivery anything other than a vote for the SNP i’ll ask again for the gold standard is beyond me.
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At last the truth concerning Sturgeon.
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She’s a lying dyke married to a paedophile. How many time has she been serviced by SAS, Jenny D, Lilly L and the rest? What has she been promised for betraying Scotland?
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Care needs to be exercised despite the strength of feeling that might drive you to comment. Supposition without fact is dangerously close to slander. You might wish to amend your contribution!!
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There are certainly rumours about regarding Sturgeon and her relationships.
There are also rumours that she has a super injunction in place.
The old adage is there is no smoke without fire. Could this be the case as rumours abound.
Don’t know but one thing for certain is that she was censured by the law society for malpractice and behaviour unbecoming of a solicitor.
And for seconds it is clear that the behaviour in the Alex Salmond set up was less than straightforward to say the least.
Would I have her a leader, do I trust her. No I don’t but maybe she’s as pure as the driven snow.
And you might belive in the Tooth Fairy.
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Willie, I am grateful to you for clarifying the sources of your earlier comments. I think she resigned from her position and indicated she would not be pursuing a career in law before any censure could be issued. But enquires into complaints against her were progressed to completion and the report was shelved. I do believe in the tooth fairy but only so far as the silver coin under the pillow. I got three tanners as a young lad.
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