Nicola Sturgeon, the daughter of a dental nurse, has been a toothache for British
governments since becoming Scotland’s first minister in 2014, with her relentless
campaign for Scottish independence. She will be seeking a majority for her Scottish
National Party in elections for the Scottish Parliament in May, and has a fair chance of
winning one. She will be helped by the failure of other British parties to appeal to
Scottish voters, and the frustration of EU-supporting Scots with Brexit. Her bid to
achieve a second independence referendum—after a first, in 2014, went narrowly
against the nationalists—faces economic headwinds. But, as with Brexit, emotion will
outweigh economics in a referendum, if Westminster can eventually be arm-twisted
into granting one.
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