13 Iconic Nicola Sturgeon Moments As First Minister Steps Down

Love her or loathe her, Nicola Sturgeon has had an iconic career as first minister.

Not only was she the first woman to hold the role but she is the longest-serving first minister having clocked up more than eight years.

While publicly her political enemies criticise her, she is widely respected as a force to be reckoned with.

She remained a stalwart of Scottish politics while Westminster tore itself apart over Brexit and churned through five Tory prime ministers.

It is little wonder her resignation came as a shock to political observers having insisted just three weeks ago she was “nowhere near” ready to quit.

While a number of issues have been cited for her stepping down, her career has also been smattered with light and amusing moments.

Here, HuffPost UK takes you through some of the funnier moments in the career of one of the UK’s most significant political figures.

When Sturgeon Rinsed Richard Tice 

Brexit Party chairman Richard Tice was left speechless after Sturgeon mocked him during a BBC debate ahead of the 2019 general election.

Asked what the politicians would say to Donald Trump, Tice said: “Let’s get a quick trade deal done.”

But Sturgeon interrupted: “And ‘here’s our NHS’, is what he would say!”

Tice hit back: “Oh nonsense, stop this scaremongering. It’s pathetic. Just lying to the British people continuously. It’s pathetic.”

However, the smiling first minister left him gobsmacked as she quipped: “Oh I think you’ve got form on that.” The audience laughed and applauded Sturgeon as Tice stared at her with his mouth open.

Attacks Daily Mail Over Theresa May Legs-it Photo

In 2017 a Daily Mail front page was widely condemned as sexist after featuring Theresa May and Nicola Sturgeon next to the headline: “Never mind Brexit, who won Legs-it!”

Sturgeon accused the paper of “leading the way” in taking Britain back to the 1970s over its coverage of her meeting with the then prime minister.

The Mail hit back telling its critics to “get a life”, and arguing their coverage was meant to be “light-hearted”.

Celebrating Jo Swinson Losing Her Seat 

When Sturgeon learned live on air that the then Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson had lost her seat in East Dunbartonshire she broke out into celebration.

Sturgeon was filmed punching the air as she saw the SNP’s Amy Callaghan unseat Swinson.

Lib Dem MP Layla Moran described the SNP leader’s reaction as “unacceptably ungracious” and the Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage said it was “graceless and nasty”.

But an elated Sturgeon told Sky News: “It was an understandably excited reaction…I can’t help but be delighted for my party.”

Singing ‘I’m A Believer’

Sturgeon struck a chord with voters as she picked up a guitar and sang along to the Monkees’ hit I’m a Believer on the 2019 campaign trail.

The first minister smiled as she joined in as best she could with the local performers at One Dalkeith Community Hub.

Funny ‘Sex’ Selfie Moment 

One Sturgeon fan caught the first minister off guard when she asked for a selfie before shouting “sex” at the camera.

Sturgeon can be seen bursting out laughing and asking the woman: “You do know that’s going to be on television?” The woman clocked the camera and shuffled off giggling.

 ‘You Are A Fascist. You Are A Racist.’

Sturgeon confronted former Britain First deputy leader Jayda Fransen on the streets of Glasgow, describing her as a “fascist” and “racist”.

The exchange was captured by an observer and posted on Twitter, after Fransen approached the SNP leader outside a polling station.

Nicola Sturgeon Vs Truss

Liz Truss dubbed Sturgeon an “attention-seeker” during the Tory leadership race, only for the insult to quickly come back and bite her.

Truss said: “The best thing to do with Nicola Sturgeon is ignore her.”

The former prime minister went on: “I’m sorry, she’s an attention seeker, that’s what she is.”

However, Sturgeon trolled the then foreign secretary with a tweet of a seal and later claimed Truss demanded to know how to get into Vogue magazine when the pair met at an international climate conference.

Her Husband Saved One Of The Queen’s Corgis 

Sturgeon revealed how her husband once saved one of the Queen’s corgis from being electrocuted.

Speaking as she moved a motion of condolence in honour of the late monarch, Sturgeon told of how Peter Murrell stopped the dog, a puppy named Sandy, from chewing through a lamp switch after a light began to flicker at Balmoral.

“To my great alarm, he was, after all, in the presence of her majesty, my husband suddenly leapt up and darted across the floor,” the first minister said.

“Peter had spotted the cause of the flickering light.

“One of the Queen’s young Corgis, a beautiful pup called Sandy, was eating through a lamp switch.

“Thankfully, tragedy was averted and Sandy emerged unscathed, though not before a ticking off from his mistress.”

The Boris Johnson Limp Handshake

Boris Johnson and Sturgeon shared an awkward exchange at Bute House when the two leaders met for the first time after he became prime minister.

Johnson was booed by crowds as he arrived on his first trip north of the border since securing the keys to Number 10.

Sturgeon looked less than impressed when she posed to shake hands with the former Mayor of London on the steps to Bute House.

When Her Shoes Were Stolen By A Toddler

A toddler stole the limelight from Sturgeon by nicking her shoes on a visit to a nursery near Stirling.

Shortly after the first minister kicked off her shoes to walk on Astroturf, the toddler took the heels and stood with her hands in them.

Sturgeon could be seen laughing behind the toddler and later tweeted to say she did eventually get her shoes back.

The Janey Godley Voiceovers 

Comedian Janey Godley’s voiceovers featuring the first minister must get a mention in this list.

The first minister has been asked about the videos in which the potty-mouthed performer talks over covid press conferences pretending to be her.

Sturgeon previously described Godley as her “alter ego”.

The Scottish government even planned to feature her in a public health campaign but she was dropped after a series of “unacceptable” tweets emerged.

Hit By A Swingball

The charismatic first minister was once whacked by a swingball on a visit to Glasgow during a game with her SNP colleague Anne McLaughlin.

However, Sturgeon laughed it off when the ball hit her in the head and later joked about it on Twitter.

The Piggate David Cameron Joke  

Sturgeon had the SNP conference in stitches back in 2015 when she made a thinly veiled joke about David Cameron and the piggate saga.

The Scottish first minister attacked “pig-headed” David Cameron amid extraordinary allegations that he once “inserted a private part of his anatomy” into a dead’s pig mouth during a university initiation ceremony.

The lurid allegations were among a number of claims laid out in a book by the former Tory chairman Lord Ashcroft and journalist Isabel Oakeshott.