IT'S RIGHT FOR ME, MY PARTY AND MY COUNTRY

>> In my head and my heart I know that the time is now >> I have been wrestling with the decision for some weeks

- CHRIS MCCALL

NICOLA Sturgeon has dramatically announced she is standing down as First Minister after more than eight years in the job.

The SNP leader dropped the bombshell news at a hastily arranged press conference in Bute House yesterday where she said "the time is now" for her to move on.

Speaking at her official residence in Edinburgh, Sturgeon denied she was quitting because of "short-term pressures" after her plan for another independence referendum was halted by the Supreme Court.

The First Minister said: "In my head and in my heart I know that time is now.

"That it's right for me, for my party and my country." Sturgeon, 52, will remain in post until SNP members elect a replacement leader after what is expected to be a fiercely contested race.

The media was invited shortly after 9am yesterday to an unscheduled press conference with the First Minister, beginning just two hours later.

Speculation that Scotland's longest-serving government leader would resign quickly spread across social media.

The timing of her resignation left many in the party shocked because just two weeks ago she had insisted she still had plenty "left in the tank" when asked about her future.