Popularity made way for controversy

NICOLA Sturgeon’s resignation was a surprise to many in politics – but the events that have unfolded since she left office have come as even more of a shock.

- KATRINE BUSSEY

Four months after her resignation, which she insisted was “not a reaction to short-term pressures”, the former first minister has been arrested as part of an investigation into SNP funding and finances.

Police Scotland said yesterday she was in custody and being quizzed by detectives before later being released without charge.

Sturgeon, who joined the SNP at the age of 16, became first minister in November 2014 after predecessor Alex Salmond stood down in the aftermath of the independence referendum that year which saw Scots vote by 55 per cent to 45 per cent to stay part of the UK.

Such was her popularity that, just after taking over as SNP leader, she addressed a sell-out crowd at Glasgow’s Hydro – an achievement usually reserved for pop and rock stars.