When Nicola Sturgeon announced she was stepping down after eight years as Scotland’s First Minister, she admitted there would be ‘no shortage of judgements’ over her legacy.
Ms Sturgeon, 52, defended her time as Scotland’s longest-serving first minister in history and as she announced her bombshell departure at her official residence Bute House in Edinburgh yesterday.
Having led the country through a number of seismic events including the Brexitvote, which she fiercely opposed, and the Covid pandemic – all while trying to push her party’s campaign for independence.
But more recently, Ms Sturgeon has faced huge pressure over her Scottish government’s management of the NHS and schools, with Scots having suffered a long-running ambulance crisis. The SNP leader also became mired in controversy as her government sought to push through gender reforms, only for them to be blocked by Westminster.
As her time in office comes to an end, MailOnline looks at the Ms Sturgeon’s legacy on the key areas of Scottish policy.
Scotland logged 54,239 deaths (10.1 per 1,000) in 2014, the year Sturgeon came to power.
By 2022, the figure had soared to 62,942 (11.6 per 1,000).
While, 2,243 of these involved Covid, experts have also pointed the NHS crisis — which has seen patients face record waits for access to vital care.
This includes due to record backlogs for routine hospital procedures, as well as the longest ever waits for emergency care.
Studies have also suggested the lasting effects of the pandemic may be to blame — with people more at risk of strokes and heart problems following a Covid infection.
Read More: How Nicola Sturgeon has left Scotland after eight years in power
