As she writes her autobiography, prepare for an outpouring of self-justification and countless criticisms made of Westminster
Many years ago my first book was published, a collection of politics and whimsy harvested from my then defunct personal blog. The book was titled: Why I’m Right and Everyone Else Is Wrong. If Nicola Sturgeon is looking for a title for her own forthcoming memoir, she’s welcome to use the same title, although unlike me, she probably wouldn’t use it ironically.
The former first minister’s autobiography will be “deeply personal and revealing” and is expected to be published in 2025. No doubt it will be consumed eagerly by her many fans, including bereft Remainer types in London who still, despite recent events, idolise Sturgeon as a bastion of progressive politics and pro-Europeanism, an image that can only be sustained by a determination to ignore all relevant facts.
Many will read the book for details on the dramatic feud between Sturgeon and her predecessor, former friend, mentor and ally, Alex Salmond after he was charged with a series of sex offences. He was subsequently acquitted but the enmity between Scotland’s two most dominant and high-profile politicians fractured the nationalist movement. Will Sturgeon reveal more in her autobiography than she’s said already? Don’t hold your breath.
We may assume that by the date of publication, the current police investigation into the SNP’s fundraising activities – which has led to the arrest and release, pending further investigation, of both Sturgeon and her husband, Peter Murrell, the party’s former chief executive – will be over and done with. Therefore it’s quite possible that Sturgeon will feel free to offer her readers some morsels about the affair. Depending on how matters progress this year, this affair will either be the climax to Sturgeon’s story, or it will be relegated to a vaguely interesting footnote.