NICOLA Sturgeon announced her resignation on Wednesday in a surprise to almost everyone in the UK.
What wasn't a surprise though was the proceeding tsunami of articles from the UK's commentator class, who don't often pay much attention to Scottish politics, but will nevertheless now give their take on what this means for Scotland and why it's really about whatever policy they happen to disagree with.
So let's take a look at some of the worst offenders.
Dan Wootton
It wouldn’t quite be a list of silly reactions if GB News’s Dan Wootton wasn’t on it.
Taking a break from his daily dose of rage aimed at Harry and Meghan, the presenter and Daily Mail columnist has tweeted more than a dozen times about Sturgeon’s resignation.
His most bizarre take is his view on the UK media's covering the First Minister stepping down – too fawning apparently.
Tweeting his upset at UK journalists, he said: “Sly News and most of the MSM expressing shock that 'one of Britain's most popular politicians' Scheming Sturgeon is out.
"As ever, totally out of touch! Crown has long slipped off Queen Nic thanks to her illegal second referendum plan and failure to acknowledge a biological woman.”
Sturgeon has consistently been among the most popular politicians in Scotland and across the UK and has won her party historic time in government.
Wootton also took issue with ITV journalist Robert Peston’s analysis of Sturgeon's resignation speech.
Peston said: “That was a truly remarkable resignation statement by Nicola Sturgeon. Whether or not you back her ideas and convictions, she has been one of the most important politicians of this generation. Her call for less irrationality and hysteria in politics should be heeded.”
Wootton replied: “Just in case anyone doubts the intrinsic bias of the UK MSM today... REMINDER ... Sturgeon very recently admitted in a TV interview: "I detest the Tories." The ultimate example of irrationality and hysteria.”
Glenn Campbell
On Wednesday, Scotland’s First Minster of eight years decided to step down. The most important politician in the country, she has dominated Scottish and UK politics for more than a decade.
A good time then for the BBC’s political editor Glenn Campbell to reveal how he masterfully deduced the news before it happened.
A few hours after her resignation, the Scottish journalist (the only Scot to make this list) published an article on the BBC News website originally titled: “How I broke the news of Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation”.
In it, he describes how he intuitively knew that Wednesday's news conference would be big news as there usually aren’t any like this during recess.
“When I heard Nicola Sturgeon was calling a news conference for 11 o'clock, my instinct was that this could be something big,” he said.
Join the rest of Scotland then.
Campbell continued to give us the inside story, saying he had phoned government sources to ask if she was resigning, with no-one giving him an answer.
“Not everyone answers in these moments and those who do tend to speak in code, but the message was crystal clear – Scotland's longest-serving first minister had decided to call it a day,” he said.
So there we have it, Campbell made some calls. Great stuff.
Apparently, the BBC got the message that the article may hold just a little too much hubris as an hour after it was published, it was changed dramatically with a new headline: "End of an era as Nicola Sturgeon waves farewell". It mostly focuses on analysis of the event, rather than on Campbell, but leaves the quotes above in, just at the bottom of the article.
The Spectator
The Spectator magazine reacted to the First Minister's resignation with anger that she spoke about herself too much. Of course, as we know, a politician who steps down even when polls show she would trounce the opposition is only wanting more attention ... right?
Tweeting the full text of Sturgeon’s transition speech, The Spectator said: “In Nicola Sturgeon’s speech the words ‘I’, ‘me’ and ‘my’ were used 153 times. ’Scotland’ was only mentioned 11 times.”
In Nicola Sturgeon’s speech the words ‘I’, ‘me’ and ‘my’ were used 153 times.
— The Spectator (@spectator) February 15, 2023
’Scotland’ was only mentioned 11 timeshttps://t.co/cHJ6IjN66Q
It may sound like a good point if you don’t think about it for more than a second, but as Novara Media editor Ash Sarkar asked: “Was it Scotland who resigned?”
The Telegraph
Sunday Telegraph editor Allister Heath, echoing widely-held conservative sentiments, said Sturgeon’s resignation was the result of “woke extremism” which he said had “destroyed independence”.
The columnist accused Sturgeon of having an “absurd, dystopian vision for Scotland” which may be news to most people who actually live in Scotland. It may also come as a surprise to the Scottish voters who have consistently voted for her party over the past decade.
At the time of her resignation, Sturgeon (below) was still among the most popular Scottish politicians.
Like many right-wingers, Heath has made her resignation about Scotland’s gender reform legislation.
“It was her quasi-religious conversion to the most extreme form of gender ideology that brought her down,” he said in the article.
He, along with many commentators who do not usually pay attention to Scottish politics and wish to make this about the gender debate, may like to take a look at the UK’s leading polling expert’s opinion on the issue.
John Curtice was clear that Sturgeon’s resignation was “a reflection of the internal debate about independence in the SNP” rather than wider political rows about gender reform.
“Certainly the next month will be about the internal debate in the nationalist movement about its strategic direction,” he said.
To be fair, Heath did wholeheartedly back Liz Truss's disastrous economic policies so maybe he isn't the best judge of character.
Julia Hartley-Brewer
TalkTV presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer has tweeted five times so far about Sturgeon’s resignation, each time after an apparent quip had popped into her head.
The first one was a gif of a woman laughing. In her second tweet, Hartley-Brewer – like Heath – had made it entirely about gender self-ID.
She said: “Any politician who tells you that a man can magically become a woman is stupid, insane or a liar. Goodbye @NicolaSturgeon and good riddance. And the same to every other politician who claims the same thing. You are a danger to women and girls. We will not tolerate it. #TerfPower.”
In her tasteless third tweet, she said: “Don't worry, @NicolaSturgeon, you can still self-identify as the Scottish First Minister.”
Her fourth post was a link to a Spectator article showing six “damning” graphs showcasing Sturgeon’s career while her fifth was a picture of Sturgeon alongside JK Rowling with the caption “1 -0”.
The Jouker would again direct Hartley-Brewer to read the words of Curtice, who pays regular attention to Scottish politics – even when it doesn’t include a debate about transgender people.
The Jouker would like to say these sorts of reactions are unexpected but readers know as well as I do that pre-written obituaries are less predictable.
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