Edinburgh reacts to Nicola Sturgeon's handling of Covid-19 pandemic

Edinburgh readers have been mixed in their reviews of Nicola Sturgeon's handling of the pandemic.

What a difference a year makes – and what a year it’s been.

Undoubtedly the global pandemic of 2020 has been the topic of conversation, with Covid-19 and coronavirus the most spoken about topic in decades.

For almost the entirety of the year, Scotland has been under some version of coronavirus restrictions, with many of the decisions made by Nicola Sturgeon and the Scottish Government during the year criticised, praised, heralded and torn apart in equal measure.

With Edinburgh central to many of those discussions, we asked you how you felt the First Minister had handled the pandemic this year – and opinions were very mixed.

‘She’s done good job under enormous pressure’

John Monteith was full of support for the First Minister, commenting: ‘She absolutely has the health of the people of Scotland at the first priority over everything else. She's done a great job’, and George Davis was in full agreement saying: ‘She is way up there with the best of them.’

Jooiz Barker was also on the side of Nicola Sturgeon, responding: “She has found herself in an unenviable position. Front and centre and always visible. She has made the best decisions on the day; a position that was informed by science. As FM she hasn’t always gotten it right, but she’s been upfront about this weighing heavy on her heart.’

Jbrown JB also felt she had done well in the circumstances, saying: ‘Considering she has to deal w/that buffoon down south, she has done a great job.’

Linda Collett simply said: ‘She has done a brilliant job, well done’, while Diane Ross said she had done a ‘braw’ job, adding: ‘I salute her.’

However, there were many readers who were less than impressed with her handling of the pandemic.

Some kept it short, like Steven Lockhart, who felt the First Minister was ‘absolutely useless.’ Jimmy Hendry was also gave the First Minister short strift, saying she ‘made a proper mess of it.’

James Cooper was also less than impressed, commenting: ‘Seeing as she broke her own rules and mentioned independence at the first opportunity she got, I’d say shes pretty useless’, and

Kenny Logan was very strong in his thoughts on Ms. Stugeon’s handling during the pandemic, he said: ‘She should be up in front of the highest court’.

Ed Dan was measured in his response, but ultimately felt she ‘could’ve done better’ adding: ‘Very difficult unique circumstances, but too many knee jerk decisions and inconsistencies without proper justification.’

Darren Scoon was also balanced in his thoughts, he commented: ‘Her communication throughout the pandemic has been very good. I haven’t agreed with all the decisions being made, some seem sensible others seem political and I am very concerned that the funds received from the UK government haven’t been fully distributed. The whole situation is unique though, so nothing to draw on as a comparison.’