What is Nicola Sturgeon's report card?

Nicola Sturgeon has been Scotland's archetypal curate for much than 8 years, the longest anyone has stayed successful the post.

As her clip astatine the apical of Scottish authorities comes to an end, BBC Scotland correspondents look astatine however she has done successful their area.

Nicola Sturgeon became archetypal curate successful the aftermath of the failed independency run successful 2014, stepping successful aft Alex Salmond's resignation.

Her tenure volition beryllium remembered for galore things but successful the extremity she has not moved the dial connected the founding contented which got her into authorities - Scottish independence.

Ms Sturgeon took complaint of a federation divided connected the contented and volition permission Bute House with the polls inactive broadly divided down the middle.

She faced disconnected with 5 antithetic UK premier ministers - each Tory - but nary would assistance her a 2nd ace astatine a referendum. In her opinion, a antiauthoritarian outrage.

A Supreme Court lawsuit proved different dormant end.

Ms Sturgeon has present decided to released the reins astatine the precise infinitesimal wherever the adjacent steps volition beryllium mapped out.

She has not fixed up connected her imagination of independency but it volition beryllium for idiosyncratic other to determine the strategy and pb the campaign.

Before she was archetypal minister, Nicola Sturgeon spent 5 years arsenic wellness secretary.

In that clip she made plentifulness of large calls - scrapping medicine charges, introducing minimum pricing legislation, a 12-week ineligible request to dainty patients.

She was besides progressive successful the aboriginal days of gathering the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital successful Glasgow.

As archetypal curate she'll undoubtedly beryllium remembered arsenic the pistillate who led Scotland during a planetary pandemic - fronting televised briefings and occasionally deciding that Covid rules would diverge from different parts of the UK.

But you are ne'er acold distant from contention erstwhile it comes to handling of the NHS.

There are grounds waiting times to entree NHS attraction and precocious levels of unit vacancies - arsenic good arsenic the ongoing Hospitals Inquiry and the Scotland and UK Covid inquiries.

These could supply immoderate uncomfortable verdicts connected decision-making by Nicola Sturgeon's government.

Education was to a apical precedence for Nicola Sturgeon erstwhile she became archetypal minister.

Helping much young radical from comparatively disadvantaged backgrounds to bash amended astatine schoolhouse and get to assemblage was to beryllium a defining mission.

However, her word ends with the archetypal nationalist teachers' onslaught since the 1980s and strained relations betwixt the Scottish authorities and the teachers' unions.

Closing the attainment gap, different goal, was ever going to beryllium a complex, agelong word task.

Universities are present taking successful a grounds fig of students from the astir disadvantaged parts of Scotland, but determination are worries that different young radical whitethorn beryllium uncovering it harder to get connected to definite courses.

Progress was being made closing the attainment spread successful schools. Then came the pandemic and unthinkable disruption to the acquisition system.

Supporters of the authorities tin constituent to the advancement being made helping children from the astir disadvantaged areas earlier the pandemic.

But until the teachers' wage quality is resolved, the hazard is that the shadiness of picket lines volition bent implicit treatment astir acquisition itself.

It tin beryllium argued that Nicola Sturgeon's biggest azygous publication to Scotland's justness strategy is her announcement of the abolition of the "not proven" verdict.

The undefined 2nd verdict of acquittal, unsocial to Scotland, has caused angst for decades, if not centuries.

But depending connected erstwhile she steps down, her bequest could besides see thing acold much extremist - a aviator of judge-only rape trials presently nether information by her government.

The archetypal curate portrays herself arsenic a champion of women's rights and specified a determination would beryllium expected to amended the condemnation complaint successful rape cases.

But removing the close to a proceedings by jury, adjacent for a constricted clip connected constricted basis, would beryllium hugely controversial.

If that's the roadworthy the Scottish authorities decides to spell down, Nicola Sturgeon volition person played a important portion successful making it happen.

The spiralling fig of cause deaths successful Scotland led the archetypal curate to admit her authorities had taken its "eye disconnected the ball" erstwhile it came to addiction.

Of course, Scotland isn't the lone state with cause issues. In galore respects, this is an inherited, multi-generational problem.

But Nicola Sturgeon's authorities hadn't prioritised that occupation until 1,000 Scots a twelvemonth oregon much were succumbing to addiction.

Before that, section attraction budgets had been chopped conscionable arsenic a caller unsafe question of thoroughfare valium swept done mediocre communities.

The contented was peculiarly acute: Scotland saw 7 years of grounds cause deaths and a decease complaint higher than immoderate different European nation.

Experts would soon constituent retired that it was comparable with North America's opioid crisis.

There were arguments astir who should power cause argumentation - Holyrood oregon Westminster - but ultimately, Nicola Sturgeon's authorities accepted its ain responsibilities and declared a nationalist effort to trim deaths.

Now £250m is being invested into addiction services but Scotland has yet to spot a important simplification successful the fig of fatal overdoses.

The archetypal curate is simply a campaigner astatine heart. The system has seldom seemed a precedence for Nicola Sturgeon, seeing it arsenic a instauration of wellbeing alternatively than wealth.

She has talked it up, announcing targets for exports, plans for skills and task forces for productivity.

But portion focussing her attraction connected societal policy, wellness and redistribution of income done caller taxation and payment powers, she delegated concern argumentation to different ministers.

She took a much salient relation intervening successful failing businesses successful an effort to prevention jobs, with mixed occurrence - an Inverclyde shipyard, a Fife fabrication yard, alloy rolling successful Motherwell and aluminium successful Lochaber. They person created a bequest of higher costs and fiscal liabilities.

ScotRail was taken implicit by government. Transport spending shifted to buses. CalMac's ageing fleet is successful crisis.

Ms Sturgeon has blocked further backstage engagement successful the NHS. The takeover of Scottish firms and nonaccomplishment of firm office has been hardly noticed crossed Scottish politics.

Since the COP26 acme successful Glasgow, the archetypal curate has argued for higher hurdles being placed successful the mode of further drilling for lipid and gas.

She's urged a faster roll-out of renewable vigor but faced disapproval for the deficiency of Scottish contented and jobs successful it.

Other landmark policies connected concern suggested her instincts person been for regulation, to tackle different priorities - precocious including a frost connected lodging rents, the deposit and instrumentality strategy for drinks containers, plans to trim intoxicant advertizing and to restrict selling of unhealthy food.

Deciding whether to property connected with these volition beryllium an aboriginal motion of whether her successor plans to alteration absorption and possibly go a person person to Scottish business.