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Nicola Sturgeon has been involved in politics since she was at
school; if she had thought this was a viable career option at the
time she may have pursued it then, but as she says dryly, "when I
got involved in the SNP it wasn't a guaranteed route to electoral
success". So she turned to law and it wasn't until the dawning of
the Scottish Parliament that this changed. Her rise to the top has
been impressive, becoming Deputy First Minister and Cabinet
Secretary for Health and Well-being at the age of 36.
The past 12 months have been marked by massive political success
for the SNP and for Sturgeon personally, forming the first ever SNP
government and winning the first SNP Scottish Parliament
constituency seat in Glasgow. It was hard work and a fierce
commitment to her constituency that got her here, she believes, and
now she's there it's "incredibly hard work, much more than she
would ever have believed."
The move from being a list MSP to a constituency one has made
life much busier, with people more likely to come to her as their
first port of call and more of a sense of responsibility for the
area. Being in Government, she is finding, is really tough: "you're
taking decisions all the time as a Minister that really will matter
to people, that can have an impact on people's lives, and that's
tough and gives you huge sense of responsibility - it keeps you
awake at night sometimes." Having said that, she admits she has
never had a more rewarding and fulfilling year, simultaneously
tough but "really, really good fun" as well.
She exudes a relaxed confidence as she explains that she wanted
to be famous when she was younger, "I suppose J K Rowling ended up
doing what I wanted to do - which was being really famous for
writing lots of books". Family is clearly important to her, as she
cites her mum and dad as major influences, making her "who I am".
When I ask what her biggest passion in life outside of politics is
she beams, "I've got a ten year old nephew and a two year old niece
- and they are my biggest passion in life - even including
politics".
So what else has shaped her and her politics? "I grew up in the
West of Scotland in a working class family in the dark days of
Thatcherism, so what shaped me was a was a deep seated belief that
Thatcherism and what it represented was not right for my country."
As you would expect, it is this belief in the need for Scotland to
speak for itself that arises again and again. The primary thing
that she wants the SNP to achieve in this term of government is
independence, but this, she says, is dependent on the other parties
backing the SNP to have a referendum. The nationalism that the SNP
is about is civic and inclusive: "independence is just about giving
Scotland the economic and political clout it needs to compete with
other countries and succeed." There is a touch of defensiveness
when asked if nationalism can be a dangerous ideology, and clearly
for her there is no room for this exclusivity within Scottish
boundaries - "we take the view that anybody who wants to come and
live in Scotland is very welcome and if you live here you've got a
stake in Scottish life and we've all got a stake in making sure
Scotland is as successful as we can be" - quite a radical
immigration policy.
She clearly believes that an independent Scotland could make a
positive contribution internationally as well as domestically: "I
think the Parliament could do so much more if it had power over the
economy, international affairs; we could just have a bigger impact
and be more of a force for good."
Beyond independence, what she wants to achieve - and believes
they are achieving - is trust.."I think I want people to feel that
we are a good government, a capable government, a government that
has made positive changes, a government that they would be prepared
to vote for again and I think that we are doing not too bad on that
at the moment."
Back to Thatcherism and what drives her: "principles and values
around fairness and equality, everything that Thatcherism seemed to
be opposed to, is what really shaped my beliefs, and a belief that
Scotland really should speak for itself; we shouldn't be spoken for
by other people."
Tackling inequality is the biggest challenge that Scotland faces
she believes. On health inequality she explains: "It's a big, big
challenge and the first thing we have to do is stop the gap growing
- the gap between the richest and the poorest in terms of health is
getting wider … the NHS can do so much but it can't do it all.
We've got to make sure that people in deprived areas are getting
better access to education, better access to health and information
and support about how we live healthier lives."
It all comes back to the income gap and an individual's ability
to make healthy choices as the new "all encompassing" anti-poverty
strategy from the Government will make clear: "to tackle health
inequalities you have to tackle inequalities and there is no easy
route to do that, but I see it as the biggest challenge we've
got."
As MSP for one of the most multi-cultural constituencies in
Scotland, what does Sturgeon believe is the role of politicians in
fostering inclusion: "I think the Government has to lead by example
and through the One Scotland campaign I think the Government does
lead by example" she explains. "We have to be very strong in saying
that there is no place in Scotland for discrimination. We are a
multicultural society and that is a strength and not a weakness.
Diversity is not something to be scared of, it's something to be
valued. And so we've got a leadership role to play and I think we,
as indeed the previous Government did, play that really well."
So, what role does she see the churches as having in building a
stable, inclusive community? "I spent last night at an event in a
church in Govanhill which was a multi faith, community event for a
concert of song and dance from various different countries. Just
one of millions of examples of how churches are ideally placed to
make our society more cohesive and I think churches do a fantastic
job there."
When it comes to the wider role of the churches, Sturgeon is
perhaps rather more cautious: "I think the churches have got a big
role to play and I think it's absolutely right that the churches
make their voices heard. Scotland has a very good tradition of
churches influencing and contributing to political debate and
that's good. But politics is secular and while churches have got a
voice, and it's an important voice, I'm sure churches would agree
that there are other voices and we have to take decisions based on
the round of these things."
Nicola Sturgeon is obviously a woman who knows her own mind, and
when asked what the best piece of advice she could give to someone
else is she's quite clear: "be true to yourself; do what you want
to do; try and do it the best you can do - don't worry too much
about future, just concentrate on being as good and fulfilled a
person as you can be. And don't have any regrets about that."