Scottish independence loses its most respected leader. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon surprisingly announced her resignation on Wednesday after years in office.

Sturgeon’s decision follows months of controversy over a law that makes it easier for people to change their gender on official documents. Justice has stopped that rule, which the premier had promoted. And as it turned out, that would have been one of the reasons for his decision.

The leader announced her resignation in a press conference at 11 in the morning. From Bute House, the seat of Scottish government, you said the time was “right for me, for my party and for my country” and ordered your party to start the process of electing a new leader . But will continue to support a referendum on independence.

The prime minister has announced that he will remain in office until a new leader is chosen.

“I am a human being as well as a politician,” he said. Sturgeon described his role as “the most beautiful job in the world” and said it was a “privilege beyond measure”.

She is “proud” to be the first woman and “the longest serving prime minister,” she said.

While acknowledging that some may feel his departure is “too soon”, he said: “In my head and in my heart, I know the time is now.”

Sturgeon admitted the decision was “really tough,” but that he comes from a place of “tough love.”

“Independence is a cause I believe in with every fiber of my body,” he warned, after revealing he would remain in office until the party finds a replacement.

shock

The news shocked the Scots and the kingdom at breakfast time. Nobody expected it. 60 per cent of Scots support his government and not necessarily his decision to support the forthcoming election as a referendum on Scottish independence, which would spell the beginning of the disintegration of the kingdom.

But the effects of Brexit, the battle for your country’s independence, the division that independence has generated in your party, the very high cost of living and the isolation in which European divorce has left the kingdom has affected him.

But it still is one of Britain’s most popular and respected politicians.

It’s unclear how long he’ll be in office or how the transition will happen. It comes a month before a special SNP conference to decide how the party intends to push forward the independence case, after the High Court ruled Holyrood cannot hold a unilateral referendum. There will be a battle for your leadership.

The separatist referendum

As the longest serving prime minister, and before Alex Salmond was the SNP MP who rose from a mediocre opposition party to a dominant force in Scottish politics, Sturgeon had a major impact on public life across the UK.

His departure will surprise many in the nationalist movement. It will cause a fight to replace it, which could dictate the future of the SNP and the independence campaign.

A poll this week found that half of SNP voters believed Sturgeon’s plan to treat the upcoming general election as a de facto referendum on independence was not credible.

Lord Ashcroft research for the magazine Holyrood it also found a 12-point lead for the Union on the constitutional issue, as well as the public perception that the Scottish Government’s priorities are not in line with their own.

there was a knockback within parts of the SNP to the prime minister’s plan to treat every vote cast by the party in the forthcoming general election as a direct vote for independence. One of the most widespread criticisms is that it would not have been recognized, which seems to have resonated with voters.

Among people who voted for the SNP in the 2019 general election, 48% said another contest to seat MPs could not be used to infer an independence vote. Forty-four percent of party supporters agreed with Sturgeon.

There was further skepticism among the general public, with only 21% in favor of the de facto plan. 67% said the election covers a range of issues and therefore it cannot be assumed that every vote for the SNP or Greens is a vote to leave the UK. The remaining 12% were undecided.

A source close to Sturgeon told the BBC he had “had enough”. “I ran out of gas. That’s it,” the premier said.

Alison Thewliss, SNP MP for Glasgow Central and party internal affairs spokeswoman, said she was “gutted” by Sturgeon’s impending resignation. She tweeted: “Nicola was an amazing leader.”