Nicola Sturgeon wins no-confidence vote in Holyrood
Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has won a no confidence vote in her leadership at the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) following a motion tabled by the Scottish Tories.
A total of 31 Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) supported the Tory initiative, with 65 voting against. There were 27 abstentions.
The development in Holyrood was the climax of a dramatic 24 hours for Sturgeon, who was cleared of breaching the ministerial code but then soon afterwards rebuked by a parliamentary committee over the handling of abuse claims.
All of these legal and political maneuverings are related to the long-running Alex Salmond saga.
Speaking during the debate in Holyrood, Sturgeon, who is also the leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), was adamant that she would have resigned her position as First Minister had she been found to have broken the ministerial code.
"Had Mr [James] Hamilton's report gone the other way, I would have accepted it, had he found that I had breached the [ministerial] code in anything other than the most technical and immaterial of ways, I would have been standing here right now tendering my resignation", Sturgeon said in reference to a report by the Scottish government’s independent advisor on the ministerial code.
Although Sturgeon’s survival in Holyrood was predetermined by the SNP’s dominance and the Scottish Greens opposition to the Tory-initiated no-confidence motion, nevertheless it still counts as a political victory after weeks of setbacks.
With the Scottish parliamentary election just six weeks away, Sturgeon can now fully focus on mobilizing the SNP’s attention and resources for that all-important political battle.
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