Leader of the Scottish National Party


The Leader of the Scottish National Party is the head of the SNP. The incumbent is Nicola Sturgeon who was elected in November 2014, succeeding Alex Salmond as party leader and First Minister of Scotland.
Alex Salmond resigned as the leader of the Scottish National Party on 19 September 2014, following the defeat of the Yes Scotland campaign in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. On 14 November 2014, he was replaced by Nicola Sturgeon, who won the 2014 Scottish National Party leadership election. On the same day, John Swinney was appointed as the Deputy First Minister of Scotland by Sturgeon.

History

The post of Leader of the Scottish National Party was officially created on 7 April 1934; the first leader was Alexander MacEwen.The Scottish National Party first came into power in 2007; they were led by Alex Salmond, where the Labour Party lost their 50 year rule of Scotland by one seat.

Roles

Currently, the leader Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister and Leader of the Scottish National Party, is responsible for the overall growth. They usually advocate for Scottish independence and Pro Europeanism.
Keith Brown is the Depute Leader of the Scottish National Party; however, he is not the Deputy First Minister of Scotland.
Ian Blackford is the Leader of the Scottish National Party in Westminster, along with Kirsty Blackman, who is Deputy Leader.

Independence vote

In 2007 Alex Salmond announced on the manifesto that "The SNP believe Scotland and England should be equal nations – friends, and partners - both free to make our own choices" In 2014, the SNP-led Scottish Government ran a vote to get the nation out of the United Kingdom; it was unsuccessful. Later that day, Salmond resigned.He previously said "This is a once in a generation opportunity for Scotland" He pledged that; there would be no more independence referendums.
Nicola Sturgeon later said, "she could think of no greater privilege than to lead the party": she was later unopposed in the leadership election.

Living former party leaders

Overall leaders of the Party