Scotland’s ??rst minister,Nicola Sturgeon, unexpectedlyannounced she would resign,after more than eight years ino??ce. Ms Sturgeon has cam-paigned tirelessly for Scottishindependence, a cause thatScots rejected in a referendumin 2014. Her e??orts to askvoters the same questionagain, hoping for a di??erentanswer, have been rebu??ed bythe courts. She had been pillo-ried over the state of Scotland’spublic services, and rowedwith some of her own ScottishNationalists over transgenderissues. She will stay in o??ceuntil a successor is found.