SCOTS gathered outside Bute house in Edinburgh after Scotland’s longest-serving First Minister resigned – with Nicola Sturgeon giving them a wave back.
Crowds were spotted outside her official residence on a historic day in Scottish politics, with Sturgeon announcing her shock resignation in a press conference at 11am.
The MSP for Glasgow Southside was seen waving to people from the windows of Bute House, shortly after she held the press conference.
Sturgeon has been First Minister since 2014, following Alex Salmond’s resignation after the independence referendum.
The SNP leader said that she knew “in my head and in my heart”, this was the right time to step down.
Sturgeon, who also served as health secretary, said: “Since the very first moment in the job, I have believed that part of serving well would be to know, almost instinctively, when the time is right to make way for someone else.
"And when that time came, to have the courage to do so, even if many across the country, and in my party, might feel it too soon.”
The First Minister said she had been struggling with the decision since the new year: "I get up in the morning and I tell myself, and usually I convince myself, that I've got what it takes to keep going and keep going and keep going.
"But then I realise that that's maybe not as true,” she said.
Sturgeon leaves her role as First Minister having won every election she has fought while in the post and is one of the most successful British politicians of the modern era.
