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Nicola Sturgeon [1970-0] Scottish

Rank: 101
Politician, First Minister of Scotland

Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon is a Scottish politician who is the fifth and current First Minister of Scotland and the leader of the Scottish National Party, in office since 2014. She is the first woman to hold either position.

Equality, Independence, Education, History, Leadership, Romantic

Quote	Tags	Rank
The importance of education is ingrained in Scottish history.	Education, History	101
My message is a simple one - the E.U. is not perfect, but Scotland's interests are best served by being a member.		102
An independent Scotland - like all countries - will face challenges, and we will have our ups and downs. But the decisions about how we use our wealth will be ours.		103
Any politician or campaigner trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the public won't get very far.		104
One of Ed Miliband's shadow ministers has said he would never vote for the renewal of Trident.		105
It still annoys me when I read really derogatory things about how a woman looks because you would usually not read these things about a man, and that still has the potential to put women off public life.		106
I am a believer in people succeeding on merit.		107
English businesses would face massive transaction costs if Scotland, their second biggest export market, used a different currency.		108
I consider myself a selfie specialist.		109
Poverty is on the increase - due to welfare cuts - and demand for food banks has rocketed.		110
An independent Scotland could afford pensions full stop - after all, it is our taxes and national insurance contributions that fund them now.		111
If something can be proven to work, we should try it... Making sure that our young folk get the best education is the only thing that matters to me, and if something can be shown to work in doing that or if something's worth trying to do that, then I'll certainly be in the market for it.		112
The decision on whether there is another referendum is down to the Scottish people.		113
I and Alex Salmond are not in competition - we are on the same side; we are on the same team, working together.		114
Most people would agree that the E.U. is too bureaucratic, not transparent or democratic enough and that it often interferes too much in matters that are best left to national governments.		115
A good education is the most important gift we can give our young people.		116
For parents - women in particular - good quality, affordable childcare is vital.		117
If Scotland was independent, we'd be the 14th richest country in the developed world.		118
Sporting success doesn't happen by accident. It takes hard work and determination on the part of the individual athletes. And it also takes investment in facilities and training support.		119
Equality and prosperity shouldn't be seen as enemies of each other, but as partners. One reinforces the other.	Equality	120
I'm not going to do anything that heralds in a Tory government.		121
As a young woman in politics, with few women around, you start to subconsciously behave like men in politics. That comes across as quite hard, tough and humorless, but you're trying to be taken seriously.		122
There's nothing in my background that would have said I was destined to be a senior politician.		123
I don't cook very often. Actually, I'd go further: I can't cook.		124
I think you should always aim for more.		125
Let us put the normal divisions of politics aside. Let us come together as one country; let us seize this historic moment to shift the balance of power from the corridors of Westminster to the streets and communities of Scotland.		126
I drove my mum and dad mad.		201
There is nothing in your background that inherently holds you back or means you can't achieve what others can achieve. You are the master of your own fate, and if you work hard, you can do what you want.		202
What a war in Iraq will not do is bring about peace in the Middle East or end the injustices that feed resentment and breed terrorists.		203
Do I look like one of the most dangerous women in Britain? Come on!		204
I've never had a voice coach, but I am about to name drop horrendously here: I did once get some advice on how to project my voice from Sean Connery, which was lovely. It's all about where you breathe. That's my claim to fame.		205
Under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act, it is possible for other parties to change the direction of a government without bringing a government down.		206
A minority government can't govern without support from other parties.		207
As a veteran of many campaigns, I know how important it is not let up in the last few days.		208
I'm a politician, and as you know, politicians are rarely very funny.		209
Haggis is delicious. It is wonderful. It's spicy, it's tasty, and you get vegetarian haggis as well.		210
One thing we've learned is that there's not anything that Nigel Farage won't blame on foreigners.		211
Thatcher was the motivation for my entire political career. I hated everything she stood for.		212
I thought if people were going to talk about what I wear, wouldn't it be good if they were talking about who designed it, who made it and if that's a Scottish company, so teaming up with Totty Rocks has been fantastic.		213
Men - the colour of their tie is the most difficult decision they have to make every day.		214
Twitter's probably my bad habit.		215
I believe we should support people to live, and I am therefore in favour of good quality palliative care.		216
London has a centrifugal pull on talent, investment and business from the rest of Europe and the world. That brings benefits to the broader U.K. economy.		217
I am a social democrat - I believe in pursuing greater equality and tackling social justice - but... you can't do that unless you have got a strong economy, unless you have got a vibrant business base earning the wealth that makes that possible.	Equality	218
The total impact of the Tory/Liberal tax, welfare and public spending changes has hit the poorest 10% in society disproportionately hard - and women have been affected even more badly than men.		219
Ed Balls has made it crystal clear that, left to its own devices, a Labour government would simply carry on with the same budget policies as the Tories.		220
Tax credits are designed to help people who work hard but who, through no fault of their own, don't earn enough to keep their families out of poverty.		221
It is hard to overstate the economic importance of the U.S.A. to Scotland, and that makes it essential that we engage with companies and potential investors and get the message across that we are open for business.		222
American companies based in Scotland employ large numbers of people - in fact, we are the best performing part of the U.K., outside London and the southeast of England when it comes to attracting foreign direct investment.		223
Scotland has a great deal to offer the world in terms of our approach to key economic and social issues.		224
There are lots of jobs and investment in Scotland dependent on our membership of the E.U. single market.		225
The fact is that co-operation between independent countries - to our mutual advantage - is the way of the modern world.		226
Glasgow is a great city.		301
Labour long ago realised it could no longer automatically assume that it would win elections in Glasgow and other places where it has taken people's votes for granted for decades - as we have seen across Scotland at local council and Holyrood elections.		302
Instead of an end to austerity, Labour has made clear that it wants to impose more austerity cuts.		303
Voting Labour in the past hasn't protected Scotland against Tory governments.		304
Too often in the past, Scotland has been sidelined and ignored in the Westminster corridors of power, but that doesn't have to be the case anymore.		305
Since I became First Minister, I have made clear my priority to alleviate poverty and tackle inequality in Scotland. Ensuring that everyone can do better in life will not only make Scotland fairer, but it will also make it a more prosperous place.		306
The Scottish Government's international development work began in 2005 with a £3 million budget focused solely on Malawi, reflecting the historic links between our two countries.		307
Scotland's relationship with Malawi is perhaps unique - with almost every town or village in Scotland having some connection.		308
Of course, aid is only one small part of international development. Some of the greatest benefits to the world's poorest can be achieved through policy changes by developed countries.		309
For me, personally, it has been humbling since I became First Minister to speak to women and girls and have them tell me how much it means to them to have a woman in the top job in politics in Scotland.		310
True gender equality in Scotland - and elsewhere - is still some way off.	Equality	311
Some of the brightest and best women in our society are stifled in their ambitions.		312
I was very proud, on just my second day in office, to appoint a gender-balanced cabinet - one of only three in the developed world.		313
When I was growing up, I was lucky to benefit from a first class education.		314
The teachers who taught me at Dreghorn Primary and Greenwood Academy were fantastic.		315
Governments in countries across the world have a duty to do everything possible to keep the public safe from terrorist attacks.		316
I am privileged to count many Muslims among my friends - some are amongst my closest friends.		317
Scotch beef, salmon and shellfish are recognised the world over for their excellence and Scottish provenance. People recognise the Scottish brand. They associate the country with quality food and drink, and clearly other Scottish sectors, such as dairy, can benefit from that, too.		318
To every woman out there who thinks that they might like to get involved in politics or stand for parliament, I say go for it. If I can do it, so can you.		319
In particular, I want to set a challenge to public bodies and private companies to improve gender balance on their own boards.		320
It is one of the little known facts about modern Scottish politics that it is not quite as cut-throat as people think it is.		321
The fact is Scottish Labour has lost its way.		322
U.K. welfare cuts are pushing more children into poverty; that is beyond dispute.		323
Personally, I can think of no greater privilege than to lead the party I joined when I was just 16.		324
Scotland has been re-energized, and people all over the country have become involved in - and informed about - politics and government in a way that I have never known before. In short, we have put ourselves firmly in control of our country.		325
Not once in my life has the Tory Party come anywhere close to winning an election in Scotland, and yet, for more than half my life, we have had a Tory government. That is wrong and undemocratic.		326
Parties that win elections should form the government, not parties that lose elections.		401
There can be no greater privilege in life than to be chosen to lead your country.		402
We already know that social security is more affordable in Scotland than it is in the rest of the U.K. - spending on social protection takes up a smaller share of our economic output and our tax revenues than is the case in the U.K. as a whole.		403
Because of lower life expectancy in Scotland - something that we are working hard to improve - the average woman will get £11,000 less in pension payments than counterparts in the rest of the U.K., even though she will pay exactly the same in contributions.		404
The U.K. government sets a cap on how much can be spent on discretionary housing payments.		405
My early years as a political activist were dominated by the poll tax.		406
The fact that healthier lifestyles and advances in medicine mean that we are living longer is actually something to be celebrated.		407
If there are healthy - and growing - numbers of people working and paying taxes, we are better able to pay the costs of people living longer.		408
The debate around the ageing population should, in my view, focus much more on how we grow the active, working population.		409
Trespass, the outdoor clothing company based in the South Side, is run by two of the nicest guys and proudest Glaswegians you could meet, Afzal and Akmal Khushi.		410
One of the attributes Glasgow is best known for all over the world is the friendliness of her people.		411
For the Scottish government, the practice of having meetings in different parts of the country is well established, but for the U.K. government, it is a much rarer event.		412
People in Scotland don't take too kindly to being lectured by a Tory Chancellor.		413
The U.K.'s debt belongs legally to Westminster, so Scotland, by definition, can't default on it.		414
Taxing people for having a spare bedroom and forcing them into rent arrears or the possibility of losing homes they have lived in for years has always been a cruel and heartless measure, and so it is good that the Scottish Parliament has been able to step in.		415
Many hard working people in low paid jobs get housing benefit.		416
I bow to no one in my ambition to see Glasgow be as successful as it possibly can be.		417
The Scottish Government will continue to do all it can to get people into work.		418
If you have a Tory government at Westminster that takes us out of Europe against our will, there may be people in Scotland who think, 'You know what, we might be better off independent.'		419
I do not want to see, for any reason, the Tories resurgent in any way.		420
I came into politics because of my opposition to what a Tory Government was doing to the community I grew up in.		421
I think the fact that people are even talking about the prospect of the Tories coming second is less about anything the Tories have done and more about the failures of Labour to set out, in any kind of coherent sense, what it's for anymore.		422
Polls can change; people's opinions can change. Voting intentions can change, and I think it would be a silly leader, a silly political party, that would assume that we have it sewn up.		423
Vote SNP for a party that always stands up for Scotland, that is stronger for Scotland, and a government that will keep the country moving in the right direction.		424
I won't say I've never felt in Alex Salmond's shadow, but latterly, when Alex was leader, I didn't. It's more about my awareness of the fact I became First Minister during a parliamentary term. That means you're First Minister, but you haven't been elected in your own right as First Minister.		425
I'm not a scientist. If there is a risk to our environment, there will be no fracking.		426
As First Minister, I will always act in the best interests of the country. As party leader, I will always act in the best interests of the party, and if that sometimes means taking difficult, unpalatable decisions, I will never shy away from that.		501
My pledge to you is that the SNP will put women and gender equality right at the heart of the Westminster agenda.	Equality	502
I stand here today as the first woman first minister of our country. Every day I hold this office, I will work to ensure that every woman, every wee girl across this country, gets a chance to do what I've done and follow their dream.		503
There was nothing in my childhood that said, 'She's going to be first minister of the country one day.'		504
I was studious and bookish. Not just as a child but also as a teenager. I took myself too seriously.		505
Talent is really important in politics, but experience is also really important.		506
The assumption that people sometimes make is that I have made a cold, calculated decision to put my career ahead of having family, and that's not true.		507
Sometimes things happen in life, sometimes they don't. Don't get me wrong: I have no regrets - if I could turn the clock back 10 or 20 years, I wouldn't want to fundamentally change the path my life has taken.		508
My political awakening, if I can be as grand as to call it that, was all about what was happening around me. It wasn't some romantic, patriotic vision of Scotland going back to what it had been 300 years previously.	Romantic	509
I was fascinated, long before I joined the SNP, in the world around me; current affairs really interested me.		510
I've got absolutely no desire or intention of damaging England.		511
I am the granddaughter of an English woman. I love England and her people and, regardless of politics, consider you to be family... and always will.		512
I hope nobody in England is afraid of the SNP - there is absolutely no need to be.		513
I like Indian takeaway.		514
Politics is a very male-dominated, male-driven profession. I was not just a woman but a young woman, and I suppose you end up trying to behave in a way that you think is expected of you.		515
I am quite driven. I know what I think, and I know what I want to achieve, but I also hope that people who are asked to describe me would describe me as pretty down-to-earth, loyal, friendly. The more experience I have got in politics, I think the more I have allowed me to shine through.		516
It would be a very serious mistake for the U.K. to vote to leave the European Union, and I think it would be democratically indefensible for Scotland, if we had voted to stay in, to face the prospect of being taken out.		517
I worry about the direction of the U.K. and U.K. politics and governance in the event of a Brexit.		518
If there is a 'Leave' vote in England and across the U.K. as a whole, then we see the reins of power being seized by politicians who are on the right of the Conservative party.		519
I desperately want Scotland to be an independent country. I cannot, though, sit here and tell you definitively that it will happen, and that it will happen on this timescale, because I have to respect the opinion of the people of Scotland.		520
I think the first decision I took when I became a government minister was to reverse the planned closure of Monklands Accident and Emergency. It's an issue close to my heart.		521
A whole range of things are done to ensure services remain safe and sustainable because that is the absolute paramount duty of the health board.		522
I think it is important the communities are listened to and that their voice is heard, particularly with local government boundaries more than parliamentary boundaries, because you are talking very much about communities. It can be a very emotive thing.		523
I think Scotland will become an independent country. I've always believed that. It means that if I'm right on that, there has to be another referendum at some stage. But the timing and circumstances of that will require careful judgment.		524
The truth of the matter is that countries the world over have deficits. Let us remember this about Scotland's deficit: it was not created in an independent Scotland; it was created on Westminster's watch.		525
Is it not typical that we have a Tory Government that wants, just like its pals in the Labour Party, constantly to talk down Scotland's prospects?		526
This government and the party that I lead will continue to argue an alternative to the Tory-Labour austerity.		601
It is clear that my predecessor as First Minister is frightening the life out of the Tories and the Labour Party. Long may it continue.		602
Would I love to think that one day I would be First Minister of an independent Scotland? Of course.		603
I have said repeatedly I do want to take longer to eliminate the deficit than the other parties. Because I want to see us have the ability to invest more in our economy, in our public services, and in lifting people out of poverty.		604
Scottish politics, U.K. politics, is not really like American politics in this respect. Not everybody is absolutely obsessed with image. I'm not saying the United States is obsessed with image.		605
I've not had a deliberate image makeover.		606
I wish we lived in a world where how you looked or what you wore wasn't an issue for men or women, and it's by and large not an issue for men, so I wish it wasn't an issue for women, but it is.		607
Scotland almost invented the modern world. I mean, all of these televisions, telephones, penicillin, we all - all of these things were invented in Scotland.		608
Literally every time I'm on camera, as well as there being commentary on what I've said, there'll be commentary on what my hair looked like, what I wear. Often it's written in the most hideous and quite cruel way.		609
I'm quite hypercritical of myself. It's a very Scottish thing, always thinking that you've got to be that bit better than everyone else to be good enough.		610
I am quite a shy person. You say that to people, and they say, 'You do interviews, speeches. How can you be shy?' But, fundamentally, I am.		611
Scotland is not a region of the U.K.; Scotland is a nation, and if we cannot protect our interests within a U.K. that is going to be changing fundamentally, then that right of Scotland to consider the options of independence has to be there.	Independence	612
I'm not going to do anything that sees a Tory government be likely.		613
We've chosen to stay part of the Westminster system, but we don't want to be a forgotten, sidelined part of it.		614
The SNP became a minority government in 2007, then a majority one in 2011. But Labour viewed what was happening as some kind of aberration. They felt the problem wasn't theirs: they didn't have to change; the Scottish people had just gone down this wrong road, and if they waited long enough, they would find their way back.		615
I take responsibility for everything that happens in the SNP as leader.		616
Scotland never voted for Margaret Thatcher.		617
People who think of a nationalist party sometimes think 'inward-looking and parochial.' The kind of nationalism I represent is the opposite of that.		618
I know you've got to earn people's trust, and you've got to earn it day after day after day.		619
I am quite hot-headed; I am quite impulsive. Fortunately, it doesn't last very long.		620
It's not opinion polls that determine the outcome of elections, it's votes in ballot boxes.		621
I feel comfortable in a position of leadership, but that's not to say I feel complacent about it. I take it incredibly seriously.	Leadership	622
At these big set-piece events like the leaders' debates, that exterior of calm and serenity is nothing compared to what's going on inside most of the time.		623
I love talking to the public, I love hearing what people have got to say.		624
If your pal or neighbour is in the SNP, you're more likely to listen to them than if you just turn on the telly and see me or Alex. The growth of membership is building a politically engaged community base that hasn't been there in my lifetime.		625
Social media is natural to me, and it's a very immediate way of saying something. It's the way politics are done these days. In modern politics, you can't ignore that even if you wanted to. I can't imagine doing politics without it.		626
I've had particularly unpleasant stuff, and it has been reported that I've had death threats. Twitter and Facebook give people who have always been out there a platform from which to hurl abuse, and all I can do is try to block it out and remind myself that tweets are transient and get lost in the ether after a few moments.		701
Being a housewife is not important to me, but I'm never happier than when I come home and shut the door.		702
I'm the leader of the SNP. I think you would expect me to say I would vote SNP in whatever constituency I lived in.		703
The oil and gas sector in the North Sea does have a strong future if we do the right things now, but we've got to make sure that the infrastructure is right to support the sector, but also to support, over the next few years, diversification as well.		704
Many people from many different walks of life have marriages that break up, and those are deeply personal, deeply painful but ultimately private matters.		705
Clearly, any issues about breaching of expenses rules should be properly investigated.		706
Labour's support in Scotland depends on their ability to be electable. If they are divided and unelectable, what's the point?		707
I feel sorry for generations of Labour voters and supporters who must look and wonder what on earth has gone wrong and what Labour is for.		708
I'm manifestly not the same as Alex Salmond. I'm a different gender, for example... I'm being flippant, but maybe this is a partly gender-driven difference: I'm very keen that we find a way of reaching out across party divides to find things we agree on, as well as the things we disagree on.		709
I'm not making any secret of the fact I still believe in independence. We'll continue to argue the case.	Independence	710
Our MPs will take decisions on how they're voting on a day-to-day basis. But I'm the leader of the party, and in terms of our overall strategy and how we vote on key issues, then ultimately, those decisions will be mine.		711
I've not hidden and I'll never hide the fact that I want Scotland to be an independent country. But as long as we're part of the Westminster system, it's really important to people in Scotland that we get good decisions coming out of Westminster. So we've got a vested interest in being a constructive participant.		712
Our opposition to Trident is very clear, very firm, very long-standing, very principled, and we would seek to build an alliance to prevent the renewal of Trident.		713
The U.K. needs a strong opposition, and Labour shows no signs of being capable of being that. The SNP is filling that void and will go on seeking to do that.		714
I admire Obama.		715
My politics are wildly different from hers, but someone who has been good for women in politics, stamped her authority on European and world affairs, is Angela Merkel.		716
I think the Tories are doing - and are intent on doing - damage to things I hold dear.		717
I want there to be another independence referendum at some stage. I want Scotland to be independent, but I wouldn't choose to have it happen because England votes to come out of the E.U.	Independence	718
Maybe its time for politicians to fight back a little bit in terms of this notion that politicians are all in it for themselves, we're all the same, we're not driven by sincere motives. Because the fact of the matter is the vast majority are.		719
Most politicians come into politics because they want to make a difference; we just have different ideas how to do it.		720
It's very much the currency of discourse on social media where political disagreements very quickly become very personalised.		721
We will never vote for the renewal of Trident; that's a decision which will fall to be made in the next Westminster parliament. We will never vote for that.		722
I'll be arguing for Scotland to vote to stay in the E.U.		723
I do struggle to identify an occasion when I was held back because I'm a woman... You don't think about it at the time, but looking back at it, of course.		724
People don't want to go back to the days, pre-referendum, when the Westminster establishment sidelined and ignored Scotland. They want Scotland's voice to be heard.		725
I don't know Ed Miliband as a person particularly well.		726
Tory governments are bad for Scotland.		801
I don't feel we need to be independent for me to feel confident in my Scottish identity. I think Scotland is pretty comfortable in its identity. We won't need independence to preserve it... if we don't become independent, it won't disappear; it isn't under existential threat.	Independence	802
Maybe unlike a lot of people who join the SNP today, I never had any expectation of a political career.		803

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