To ask scots if they actually like Nicola sturgeon

[Karen85]

Just out of curiosity really because she and her voice make me cringe when i hear her on tv or radio.

Love scots though please don't get me wrong.

[Bestthingever]

I know someone who has to deal with her as a senior elected politician from another political party. He says she is as cold as ice towards him. He sat beside her at a church service once and wouldn't utter a single word to him. That's pathetic. You may not agree with someone's politics but you can still be civil. It says a lot about how she feels about those who disagree with her.

[scottishdiem]

I like her. Not a member of the SNP but the is ahead of most other politicians (in the UK as a whole) when it comes to ability and leadership.

I have worked in the Scottish public policy area and in two very different areas (Health and then Equalities) she was a total master/(mistress?) of her brief.

She gets a lot of shite because she is a woman who doesnt do what she is told. She also gets a lot of shite because some people don't like her hair of style of clothes.

She is no more vile than Ruth Davidson (Tory leader) in terms of "wee women with slightly different ways of speaking" or nippy-sweeties as they might be called. No more vile than Theresa May who just sold her soul to Trump.

But then I do support Independence (Scottish Green policy) so perhaps my starting point is different and I should think that all politicians/MP from England & Wales who voted for Brexit last week are vile? Perhaps I should think that all politicians who voted to cut disability benefits are vile? Perhaps I should think that the MP Davies who dislikes women is vile?

Mind you, thats about policy, not cause of how she looks and sounds. If I wanted to take umbrage at that then all MPs with Birmingham, Liverpool and Home Counties accents would be vile cause I dont like those accents. Dont mind people from there mind you......

[Heatherbell1978]

Yes. I intensely disliked Salmond but I have a lot of admiration for her. I don't support independence so it can be hard separating the two but based on her politics and policies I think she's a breath of fresh air.

[Katedotness1963]

Can't stand her. I keep hearing how great she's doing and how fantastic Scots have it these days and can honestly say not in my part of Scotland we don't. NHS services are getting worse and worse, no money so public transport is being cut down, the council has no money to do half the things they used to do and this bloody woman keeps bleating on about indyref 2. Where's the money for that coming from??

[fleuricle]

I dislike her immensely.
I disagree with her politics.
My children have suffered under her education policies.
But I also find her to be a bully (the silencing of her own Party) and highly manipulative. Sadly, not unusual for a politician.

I feel sad when she is criticised for her appearance .
That is not the problem - her ruthless desire to take Scotland Indy (when the IndyRef said NO) damaged Scotland, and will do so again.

Ruth Davidson - don't agree with her politics either but she seems to have an air of integrity about her, which oor Nic doesn't.

Having said that, I met her once with my children and she was charming.

[cdtaylornats]

The no fees for Scottish and EU (except other parts of the UK) students has resulted in a reduction of Scots going to university. In order to fund themselves Scottish universities have to take on more English and non-EU students who pay.

I don't like the anti-English racism either, why have English, Welsh and NI students been singled out as the only EU citizens that have to pay university fees?

[Redglitter]

Cannot stand her. She's a total hypocrite and a mass of contradictions. She's so bloody hell bent on her independence crusade she can't see past it.

She's a total embarrassment

[fleuricle]

And I identify as British rather than Scottish or English but have lived in Scotland for 26 years so I now qualify as a 'half and half' at least.

I too dislike the term 'nippy sweetie' as a put down of women but it is the term I have heard most about her, never RD though?

[StatisticallyChallenged]

I would agree, it doesn't seem all that awesome in Edinburgh either- our school is at breaking point finance wise with the psa fundraising to buy basics (books!), experiences of the NHS are crap, streets and roads are a state, policing is a shambles...I don't see what is so amazing tbh

[scottishdiem]

Cybernats are a problem. Mind you, I believe that a man was convicted of using social media threatening to rape Nicola Sturgeon. The abuse is on all sides and needs all sides to fix it not just blame one side. For a sample of what the unionist cyber bullies were up to in the referendum check this account: [https://twitter.com/britnatabusebot]

[scottishdiem]

"I don't like the anti-English racism either, why have English, Welsh and NI students been singled out as the only EU citizens that have to pay university fees?"

This is a EU rule. Also, seeing as the English arent a race, its not racisim either.

[imisschocolate]

I dislike the obsession she has with another independence referendum. You list get over it! Also her constituency is severely neglected and in a dire state. She needs to turn attention towards this rather than independence.

I will say she is an excellent speaker and seems to come across very well.

I have no personal feelings towards her at all. My feelings are based solely on the politics.

[rogueantimatter]

It's a no from me. I'm a Scottish person living in Scotland. I've heard her talk to 'yes' campaigners and found her very professional and down to earth but she gives me the impression that there is a very thin veneer of 'salt of the earth' 'couthy wisdom' over an aggressive individual.

She stood unsuccessfully once IIRC and was subsequently added to the regional list of SMPs. So strictly I don't think she has ever been directly elected to parliament.

The politicising of anything considered Scottish is very tiresome and annoying IMO. She does not speak 'for scotland'. The people of Scotland have probably never voted for anything - the turnout is never high enough to justify such a claim.

The independence referendum was divisive. Nationalism is not something to be encouraged IMO. It's an accident of birth.

And don't get me started on the Legal Guardian law the SNP attempted to pass.....

[Bestthingever]

Once in a hospital, my dad and I got talking to a constituent of hers who had a serious problem. She said Sturgeon had been brilliant with her but the problem was still unsolved. My dad happens to be quite an expert in that particular field (trying not to be too identifying) and he said everything Sturgeon had said and done for her was 'crap'! The woman was pissed off that my dad was criticising the great Sturgeon rather than be grateful for his advice. People are so mesmerised by her.

[Tabbylady]

Magzmarsh you said what I was going to!
I've family & friends from all over Scotland- mostly very rural- and I live centrally and we all feel the same. But then that's a self-selecting group.

I met her once, years ago before she was FM and had not long been elected as an MSP and she seemed dead normal.

[peggyundercrackers]

I too dislike the term 'nippy sweetie' as a put down of women but it is the term I have heard most about her, never RD though?

that's because NS comes across as aggressive, rude, sarcastic, she would bite your head off. nippy sweetie is really a Glaswegian term and isn't really used across Scotland.

[scottishdiem]

"So strictly I don't think she has ever been directly elected to parliament."

Not really a problem in a PR system but she was directly elected to Govan seat in 2007 and then again in 2011 and then in 2016 was directly elected to Glasgow Southside.

Ruth Davidson - Glasgow list MSP then Edinburgh Central MSP. Bit of a change of scene.

Kezia Dugdale - Lothians List MSP only.

I dont want to be here as an odd defender of Sturgeon, the SNP etc but facts do need to be accurate (like the fact that the centralisation of rural services noted above is accurate and a total pain in the arse).

[The80sweregreat]

She does have an agenda, agreed, but she is clear on that agenda and comes across as focused and intelligent. At least the Scottish people are aware of what her party are about.
Our government is a total shambles in comparison and dont get me started on the opposition.. Politics in general just gives me a headache i'm afraid, its worrying times ( i would hate the UK to be broken up, but i can see it happening, and not that far into the future.)

[morningtoncrescent62]

I'm not a Scot but I've lived here 20 years.

Also not an SNP voter or supporter of Scottish independence, so I would expect to disagree with a large part of what NS says/does because it's geared towards creating a climate in which people will vote for independence. Having said that, for the last few years I've had no problem with her personally, and I've supported quite a lot of what she appeared to stand for - anti-austerity, anti-Trident and so forth.

However, under the current administration what we're seeing is a budget that will force further council spending cuts, no use of existing powers (e.g. stopping nuclear convoys by road) that would make a difference re Trident, and a broken record on Scotland and the EU. She's therefore gone down in my estimation - where I thought she was fairly trustworthy, I now no longer think that.

The best I can do is damn her with faint praise - she's better than May.

As for Ruth, I think she's clever but unbearably smug, and watching poor Kezia speaking about anything is like watching a puppy drown.

[Bluntness100]

Eh @Bluntness100 ?
She has been elected, as much as any othe MP, MSP, AM etc...

[cdtaylornats]

This is a EU rule. Also, seeing as the English arent a race, its not racisim either.

This isn't an EU rule all the EU says on the matter is -

European law makes clear students from EU members states cannot be offered a worse deal than home ones. However, the devolved settlement has led to Holyrood allowing Scottish universities to charge English, Welsh and Northern Irish students fees.

There was a legal challenge but it collapsed as the two students who brought it couldn't get legal aid and couldn't risk losing and having to pay the Scottish Governments costs.

[GruochMacAlpin]

I do like all the commments criticising Sturgeon for "having an agenda".

All politicians have an agenda. It's called a manifesto.

If they don't have a clear agenda they aren't very good politicians.

[UnGoogleable]

Also, seeing as the English arent a race, its not racisim either

I'd argue that it was racism. Just like anti-Scottish, or Welsh, or Irish sentiments are deemed racism. Can't have it both ways.

I think she is blatantly racist.

[GoesDownLikeACupOfColdSick]

Love her or loathe her, she certainly manages to keep Scotland in the news. Considering it's about only 8% of the uk's total population, there's a hell of a lot of focus on Scotland in the media!

[Willow2016]

She didn't. The people who voted for the SNP did.

No people voted 'yes' if they supported snp/independance but the result was 'No'. It wasnt the snp voters who snubbed the population, it was a democratic vote and they excercised their right to vote which ever way they wanted to.

Sturgeon then made it her goal to get that changed, has done from the minute she took over from Salmond. She talks about precious little else.