Nicola Sturgeon confirms she will step down at 2026 election

Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed she will leave Holyrood at the 2026 election.

Following months of speculation that the former first minister is to step down as an MSP, Sturgeon has broken her silence on the matter on Instagram.

The former leader, who represents Glasgow Southside, said: “Being an MSP for more than a quarter of a century, for the best constituency in Scotland, has been an honour beyond words.

“In my heart though, I know the time is right to open a new chapter in my life."

Sturgeon spent eight years as first minister of Scotland, a role she took on in the wake of the 2014 independence referendum.

The first woman to hold the position, she led the Scottish Government during a period which spanned Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Her resignation as FM in March 2023 came as a shock to all but a tight circle of close allies, with even SNP HQ staffers unaware of her decision until it was announced in a Bute House press conference. 

In a letter to local SNP members, Sturgeon said: "I am writing to let you know that I have decided not to seek re-election to the Scottish Parliament next year. As members of the SNP in Glasgow Southside, I wanted you to be the first to know.

“I also wanted to put on record my heartfelt thanks to all of you for the unstinting support, loyalty and friendship you have shown me over the years in which I have had the privilege of being your MSP. It means more to me than you will ever know.

“Reaching this decision has been far from easy. However, I have known in my heart for a while that the time is right for me to embrace different opportunities in a new chapter of my life, and to allow you to select a new standard bearer.

“Whoever you choose will have my full support and I look forward to campaigning alongside you to ensure that Glasgow Southside remains an SNP-held constituency."

Sturgeon, who has signed a book deal to publish her memoirs, is the second SNP first minister set to leave Holyrood next year. Her successor Humza Yousaf, who spent 13 months as FM, announced his intention to stand down months ago.

Speculation about her impending exit increased in recent days after allies including Shona Robison announced that they will not contest the 2026 election. 

SNP members make up 18 of the 25 MSPs now confirmed as standing down.

A '99er who has been an MSP since the first devolved parliament, Sturgeon's political career has seen her fill the Hydro arena and appear before parliamentary inquiries.

Her later years as FM included the inquiry into the Scottish Government's handling of allegations against her predecessor Alex Salmond, who was cleared of serious sexual offences in a criminal trial.

In June 2023 Sturgeon was arrested and released without charge as part of Operation Branchform, the police investigation into SNP finances. Her husband, former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, has been charged with embezzling funds from the party and earlier this year Sturgeon revealed the pair are to divorce.

Born in Irvine, Sturgeon she said she had joined the SNP in 1986 to help “in building a fair and prosperous Scotland" and has “dedicated my life to that task ever since”.

She said: “I believed then that winning our country's independence was essential to Scotland reaching her full potential, and I still do. Even though I am preparing to leave elected politics, I hope to contribute in different ways to making that ambition a reality.”

The announcement comes days after Sturgeon, a vocal proponent of the Scottish Government's vetoed Gender Recognition Reform Act, was jeered by opponents of legal self-identification for trans people in Edinburgh.

Scottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton wished Sturgeon well but said the former first minister had “created, fostered and encouraged” deep divisions in Scotland.

“By any objective analysis, her record as first minister is one of failure. Scottish education standards collapsed on her watch and the poverty-related attainment gap, which she promised to eradicate, widened.

“She presided over a drugs-death emergency, a ferries scandal, a crisis in our NHS, crumbling roads – and all while raising taxes on hard-working Scots, which stifled economic growth.

“Her reckless gender self-ID policy betrayed women, her soft-touch approach to justice betrayed victims and her shameful deletion of Covid WhatsApp messages denied bereaved families answers and highlighted the secrecy and cynicism that characterised her government.”

Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton added: “Whatever you think of her legacy, Nicola Sturgeon’s impact on Scottish politics has been undeniable.  

“The SNP have been in power for too long, and the departure of another big figure is further proof of their decline.

“For so many people across Scotland, it feels like nothing works anymore. Next year, they will have a chance to draw a line under SNP division and neglect. At the 2026 election, Scottish Liberal Democrats will be focused on standing up for faster access to local healthcare, lifting up education and giving our economy the attention it deserves.”

Also commenting on the news, STUC general secretary Roz Foyer said Sturgeon had “consistently strived to work in partnership” with the trade union movement “even when we robustly disagreed” and had shown it “nothing but the high-level respect and courtesy we are due as representatives of Scotland’s workers”.  

Foyer went on: “She can be proud of her legacy in encouraging more women, myself included, to speak up and use their voice to advocate for change.”

Thanking Sturgeon for her “immense contribution”, First Minister John Swinney said he was “sorry” that she was standing down: “As Scotland’s longest serving and first female first minister, she has done so much to improve the lives of people in Scotland. I send her every good wish.”