Without Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish National Party Is Facing an Identity Crisis
Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation as SNP leader has exposed deep-rooted problems with the party’s centralized, secretive organizational culture. The contest to succeed her could result in a marked rightward shift with profound consequences for Scottish politics.
Scotland’s outgoing first minister Nicola Sturgeon chairs her final cabinet meeting at Bute House on March 21, 2023 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Andy Buchanan / Getty Images)
Throughout her eight and a half years in charge at Holyrood, Scotland’s devolved national parliament in Edinburgh, Nicola Sturgeon was often accused of running a PR department with a government bolted on at the side. In the five weeks since Sturgeon announced her decision to resign as leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) and Scottish first minister, that accusation has felt more like a statement of fact than a partisan slight.
Sturgeon’s departure has exposed some deep-rooted problems and divisions concerning the SNP’s organizational culture, its political orientation, and its strategy for achieving Scottish statehood. Unless those problems are addressed, Sturgeon’s leadership may prove to be the party’s high watermark.
Internal Ructions
In February, Murray Foote, one of Sturgeon’s chief media adjuncts, dismissed as “drivel” a report by a major Scottish newspaper that the SNP was hemorrhaging members at the grassroots level. On March 16, after days of intense media scrutiny, the party finally admitted that its registered activist base had slumped from a peak of 125,000 at the end of 2019 to 72,000 at the start of this year.
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