Nicola Sturgeon plans to write memoir when she leaves politics - but she's not going yet

First Minister offers views on five UK prime ministers she’s dealt with
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Nicola Sturgeon has said she will “almost certainly” write a political memoir when she eventually steps down from politics – but made clear she was not planning her departure any time soon.

In a radio interview, the First Minister also spoke about what she would like to do once she does leave office and compared the five UK prime ministers she has dealt with during her time leading the Scottish Government. Asked whether she had kept a diary and planned to write a memoir, Ms Sturgeon said: "I regret sometimes that I’ve not kept a detailed diary throughout all of my years. Will I write a memoir? Almost certainly, even if it’s just for therapy for myself. Whether anybody will want to publish it or not is a different matter, but I’m sure at one point we’ll get it all out there – so anybody listening who might feel they have to beware, there’s some warning for you.” Ms Sturgeon has been First Minister since 2014 and in May last year overtook her predecessor Alex Salmond to become Scotland’s longest serving First Minister.

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During the interview on BBC Radio 4’s PM programme, she was also asked if she ever felt she’d much rather be doing something else. She replied: “I’m a human being –everybody has bad days when they wish they were a million miles away. Nobody would believe me if I said otherwise. I still feel I have the energy and the appetite to do this job, but I don’t fear life after politics. There are lots of things I relish having the opportunity to do when the time eventually does come for me to do something else and step down from politics. I’d love to write, I’d love to go and do work with young people, I’ve spoken about personal things I’d like to do. For now, maybe a bit perversely given the challenges all leaders face right now, I’m enjoying the job and feel I’m still the best person for the job an I’m getting on with it.”

Nicola Sturgeon says she hasn't kept a detailed diary of her time in politics but will 'almost certainly' write a memoir.Nicola Sturgeon says she hasn't kept a detailed diary of her time in politics but will 'almost certainly' write a memoir.
Nicola Sturgeon says she hasn't kept a detailed diary of her time in politics but will 'almost certainly' write a memoir.

Ms Sturgeon was also asked if she had a favourite out of the five UK prime ministers who had been in post during her period of office. She said: “I wouldn’t describe it as ‘a favourite’. They have all been very different. I never really got to know Liz Truss – she wasn’t there for long enough. Boris Johnson was tough to deal with because he was never on top of the detail, he was a bit of a blusterer. I’ve had a couple of occasions now to speak with Rishi Sunak – certainly there is more engagement there, whether it leads to anything of substance time will tell. David Cameron and Theresa May were both very different personalities who brought a professionalism to the role and an ability, albeit we disagreed, to work together that Boris Johnson never ever brought to the table.”

The interviewer asked if she could envisage a day when she could do business with Mr Sunak. Ms Sturgeon said: “Our governments do business all the time. Clearly there are big, big disagreements. The big gripe I’ve got with Westminster government is that they don’t show respect for the devolved administrations – they override, undermine, treat with contempt far too often. I did have a good chat with Rishi Sunak when we had dinner a couple of weeks ago, but then a matter of days later he decided to veto a piece of legislation democratically passed by the Scottish Parliament – that’s not respectful and that’s not a way in which to build a decent relationship.”