Nicola Sturgeon’s announcement of her resignation brought some lavish tributes, but perhaps the highest praise came from Donald Trump. “Good riddance to failed woke extremist Nicola Sturgeon of Scotland!” the former president thundered. “The wonderful people of Scotland are much better off without Sturgeon in office!”
Naturally, condemnation from Trump is a badge of honour. But the fact that he put out a statement at all was proof that the outgoing first minister has built a serious profile. Back in the 1990s, White House officials would marvel that the tiny population of Northern Ireland had somehow produced a clutch of world-class politicians, singling out the likes of John Hume, Martin McGuinness and loyalist leader David Ervine. “What are they putting in the water over there?” one Washington hand once asked me. For the last 20 years, you could ask a similar question of Scotland and the SNP. In his pomp, Alex Salmond was the most effective political leader in the UK – and, as if lightning had struck twice, the same was true of his successor.
