Ms. Sturgeon’s departure raises questions about a future referendum on Scottish independence
A surprise announcement by Nicola Sturgeon that she plans to resign as Scotland’s First Minister has thrown the Scottish independence movement into turmoil and raised questions about a future referendum on sovereignty.
Ms. Sturgeon has been on the front bench of the SNP for nearly 20 years and a passionate advocate for independence since she was a teenager. “Winning independence is the cause I have dedicated a lifetime to. It is a cause I believe in with every fibre of my being,” she said Wednesday. “And it is a cause I am convinced is being won.”
She began calling for a second vote on independence in 2016 after the U.K.-wide referendum on Britain’s membership in the European Union. The United Kingdom as a whole narrowly backed leaving the EU – 52 per cent to 48 per cent – but around two-thirds of Scots voted to remain in the bloc. Ms. Sturgeon argued that Brexit had been a fundamental change for Scotland and that Scots deserved another say on sovereignty.
Despite Ms. Sturgeon’s efforts, most Scots have yet to embrace sovereignty. Public support for independence has not changed dramatically since 2014, and opinion polls show the population remains evenly divided on the issue. On Wednesday, he praised Ms. Sturgeon as a “first-rate political communicator and election winner” but said the independence movement has been left with no clear strategy. “The previously accepted referendum route has been closed and the de facto referendum-election proposal is now, at best, up in the air.”
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