In January, the Scottish regional government passed a liberal transgender law, which was blocked by London. Now Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon is drawing consequences from the power struggle - and wants to resign from office.
Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced her resignation. After ruling out such a move a few weeks ago, Sturgeon said at a press conference that she felt "the time has come." The background is apparently the case of a transgender woman who was initially held in Scotland's only all-women's prison for raping two women before her gender reassignment. This had brought Sturgeon wide public criticism.
In Scotland, transgender issues are currently a major focus. The Scottish regional government under Sturgeon passed legislation last month to make it easier for people to determine their own gender. However, the British government in London blocked the law, arguing that it could have negative repercussions on national equality laws.
The leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) was elected Scotland's First Minister in 2014 - making her the longest-serving head of government in the country, which is part of the United Kingdom. She is best known as a proponent of Scotland's independence movement. However, she recently had to accept severe setbacks on this topic. In November, Britain's Supreme Court rejected a Scottish request for a referendum on secession from the United Kingdom.
Sturgeon wanted to hold another independence referendum in October 2023. The Scots had already voted in 2014 to leave the kingdom that had been shared with England and Wales for three centuries. At that time, the opponents of independence prevailed with 55 to 45 percent of the votes.
Sturgeon justifies the desire for a new vote with the outcome of the Brexit referendum in 2016, in which a clear majority of Scots voted against the UK leaving the EU, which has since taken place.
