Who is Nicola Sturgeon? - from teenage campaigner to Scotland's first minister

She has resigned without achieving the 1 overriding ambition which archetypal sparked her involvement successful authorities arsenic a teen - Scottish independence.

Ms Sturgeon was calved successful Irvine successful Ayrshire successful 1970 and was already an SNP stalwart successful her teens, campaigning for the enactment successful the 1987 wide election.

By 1992, astatine the property of 21, she was selected arsenic a campaigner herself, lasting successful the Glasgow Shettleston constituency wherever she was beaten by Labour by 15,000 votes.

Her ambition was undiminished and she went connected to basal successful a bid of assembly and Westminster contests.

At the aforesaid time, she graduated successful instrumentality from the University of Glasgow, and worked for 2 years arsenic a solicitor successful the city.

Her governmental vocation afloat took disconnected with the opening of the Scottish Parliament successful 1999, wherever Ms Sturgeon won a Glasgow spot connected the determination database ballot.

The SNP became the main absorption to the Labour-Lib Dem conjugation moving the caller parliament, and Ms Sturgeon took up a bid of shadiness briefs - archetypal connected education, and aboriginal connected health.

When John Swinney resigned arsenic SNP person successful 2004, she pitched herself into a enactment contention against Roseanna Cunningham. But the contention changed erstwhile Alex Salmond decided to instrumentality and propulsion his chapeau into the ring.

The 2 politicians sealed a pact which saw Ms Sturgeon tally arsenic Mr Salmond's lawman - and efficaciously his typical successful the Scottish Parliament, fixed helium was an MP and not an MSP astatine the time.

It besides meant she became lawman archetypal curate erstwhile the SNP took powerfulness successful 2007, arsenic good arsenic the important station of wellness secretary.

She won the constituency of Glasgow Govan astatine that election, a spot she has comfortably held ever since.

Ms Sturgeon besides played a important relation during the 2014 independency referendum campaign, erstwhile she often took the pb arsenic the "Yes minister".

It was the nonaccomplishment of that run which led to her ascending to the precise apical of Scottish politics, with Mr Salmond stepping down successful the aftermath of Scots voting No to independency by 55% to 45%.

This time, Ms Sturgeon was the lone campaigner successful the enactment contention - and she swept to powerfulness successful stone prima style, embarking connected a stadium circuit to denote herself arsenic Scotland's archetypal pistillate archetypal minister.

Momentum was down the SNP, and the enactment delivered a historical landslide successful the 2015 wide election, winning 56 of the 59 seats successful Scotland.

Ms Sturgeon followed that with different Holyrood triumph successful 2016 - albeit abbreviated of the unprecedented bulk the enactment had won nether Mr Salmond successful 2011. She won again successful 2021.

In betwixt those wins, she guided Scotland done the Covid pandemic, hosting regular briefings from the government's St Andrew's House headquarters.

She besides drove done a big of policies, from a doubling of Scotland's escaped childcare allowance to the instauration of the babe box.

However others fell abbreviated - notably her committedness to adjacent the attainment spread betwixt schoolhouse pupils from amended disconnected and much deprived backgrounds, thing she erstwhile famously made her fig 1 priority.

Those policies whitethorn crook retired to beryllium her main bequest arsenic archetypal minister, fixed she has failed to advancement the contented which brought her into politics.

Ms Sturgeon pushed for a referendum connected Scottish independency connected respective occasions - astir notably successful the aftermath of the Brexit ballot successful 2016 - but each clip she ran into a partition of absorption from the UK government.

While she had to woody with 5 premier ministers - successful David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak - nary of them were consenting to motion up to a 2nd law contest.

An effort to unit the contented done the Supreme Court besides foundered, and Ms Sturgeon was readying a peculiar SNP league successful March to determine what the adjacent determination volition be.

That is portion of the crushed wherefore her abrupt resignation is specified a astonishment - without Ms Sturgeon, who volition acceptable the absorption of the independency question astatine specified a pivotal movement?

The departure of a fig who has been astatine the precise apical of Scottish authorities for truthful agelong leaves a batch of unanswered questions hanging.