Sturgeon took the U.K. by surprise when she announced her resignation on Wednesday after eight years in office, saying she knew “in my head and in my heart” it was time to leave.
She will remain first minister for several more weeks while the Scottish National Party picks a new leader, a job for which there is no clear favorite. Potential successors include Angus Robertson, a Sturgeon ally who serves as Scotland’s constitution secretary, Finance Secretary Kate Forbes and Health Secretary Humza Yousaf. But none of the contenders has Sturgeon’s profile or proven political skills.Whoever wins will have to find a way to break the independence logjam.
Sturgeon ruled out emulating Catalan separatists in Spain and holding an unauthorized vote, a decision that struck some independence supporters as too cautious. Recent polls suggest Scots are about evenly split on the issue of independence. John Kampfner of think tank Chatham House said that with Sturgeon gone it’s possible “some of the air has gone out of the bubble” of the independence movement.
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