Nicola Sturgeon: Welsh tributes to departing Scottish first minister

Mark Drakeford and Nicola Sturgeon saw eye-to-eye on many key issues

Politicians in Wales have paid tribute to Nicola Sturgeon, who is resigning as Scotland's first minister after more than eight years in the role.

The Scottish National Party leader said that she knew "in my head and in my heart" that it was time to step down.

Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price said her "legacy will be Scottish independence" so "her tenure will truly be historic".

Tory Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies said despite being a political opponent he could see "the impact she has made".

Wales' First Minister and Welsh Labour leader Mark Drakeford, who is grieving after the sudden death of his wife, has sent Ms Sturgeon a private message, the BBC has been told.

• Who is Nicola Sturgeon?

• Live updates on Nicola Sturgeon's resignation

Ms Sturgeon, who announced her departure at a hastily-arranged news conference in Edinburgh, said she would remain in office until her successor was elected.

She is the longest-serving Scottish first minister and the first woman to hold the position.

"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," she said.

"And when that time came, to have the courage to do so, even if to many across the country, and in my party, might feel it too soon.

"In my head and in my heart I know that time is now. That it is right for me, for my party and for the country."

Andrew RT Davies, Conservative leader in the Senedd said: "I disagree with Nicola Sturgeon's politics, but even political opponents should be able to recognise the impact she has made.

"I wish her and her family well in the next chapter of their lives."

Ms Sturgeon led the SNP to a series of election victories at UK, Scottish and local level.

Last year the UK Supreme Court ruled that Holyrood did not have the power to stage another independence referendum - a move which has been blocked by the UK government

She wants the SNP to fight the next general election as a de facto referendum, but there has been some opposition to the plan within the SNP.

Recent months have also seen controversies over gender reforms, which have been blocked by the UK government.

'Some who move the dial'

Mr Price described Ms Sturgeon as a "once in a generation politician, driven by a deep and unwavering passion for her country and duty to public service".

"Her Scottish hand of friendship always extended to Wales - as nations and as people we marched together, Nicola at the helm, to create a better future free from Westminster rule," he said.

"No woman or man alone will achieve independence - but there will be some who move the dial.

"Nicola Sturgeon's legacy will be Scottish independence and for that and all else she has achieved; her tenure will truly be historic."

Despite coming from different political parties, the relationship between Mark Drakeford and Nicola Sturgeon was a relatively easy one.

Some of that was due to circumstance - they were united by their opposition to a Conservative government at Westminster and frequently expressed their criticism as a tag-team.

The Covid pandemic often saw them taking policy decisions more aligned with each other than with ministers in England.

Although Mark Drakeford is a supporter of the union, his expressed desire to see the UK "radically redrawn" as a "voluntary union of nations" made it easier to relate a pro-independence Scottish First Minister.

But the human element is important too.

It helps if you get on and, by and large, they seemed to.