Less than candid: Kieran Andrews reviews Nicola Sturgeon's 'Frankly'
Edinburgh, 1999: Nicola Sturgeon | Image by: Image by: Colin McPherson / Alamy
4 min read
Highly readable yet also guarded, the former Scottish first minister's memoir could be a tad more frank
In a way, Nicola Sturgeon’s autobiography is an entirely accurate reflection of the former Scottish first minister.
Her famed communication skills are on display in a book that includes just enough eyebrow raising moments to generate headlines and publicity.
But it is also extremely careful and guarded, giving away very little new information of consequence and highlighting the extreme caution that – by her own admission – characterised much of her time in office.
In a highly readable fashion, Sturgeon recounts her journey from shy, working-class girl from Ayrshire to become Scotland’s first female first minister.
Yet something is always held back. There are generalisations about her hopes, fears and anxieties but very few concrete examples that bring it home.
Every failure to establish a rapport with an opposing number (usually, but not exclusively, Conservative prime ministers) is blamed on the other person, despite her own admissions of awkwardness in smaller groups.
Sturgeon writes of knowing “how to stir an audience” and being “much more comfortable doing that than having a normal conversation”.
There is potential for a really interesting exploration of this shyness but despite repeated mentions, it always feels surface-level.
She is kind towards her estranged husband Peter Murrell but cites the ongoing criminal case against him as she largely ducks the police investigation into the SNP’s finances.
In a disappointing result for the nerds, there is also little focus on policies.
Sturgeon’s desire for independence shines through and she describes herself as left-wing, but there is little about the change she wishes she had made to Scotland.
She largely ducks the police investigation into the SNP’s finance
The massively over-budget and delayed construction of two vessels in the publicly owned Ferguson Marine yard merits no mention, despite it being a controversy that still hangs over the Scottish government.
Drug deaths, which soared under her leadership to the highest rate in Europe, get a passing nod as an excuse to kick Boris Johnson and there is no mention of her admission that her government “took our eye off the ball” on the issue.
We don’t get any insight into the cabinet discussions around breaking a manifesto pledge by changing tax bands to increase the charges on middle and higher earners or the introduction of the Scottish child payment, which is widely seen as her most successful policy.
Then there is Sturgeon’s relationship with Alex Salmond. She gives the sense of her finding him both inspiring and intensely frustrating, while also hurling grenades at her former mentor.
She claims he did not support same-sex marriage and speculates that Salmond might have been behind the leak of allegations of sexual harassment against himself to the Daily Record newspaper. His allies have disputed all of these points and criticised Sturgeon for turning her fire on a dead man.
This book is a reminder of Nicola Sturgeon’s strengths and weaknesses. As she puts it: “The fact is I am neither the hero that my most ardent supporters revere, nor the villain that my fiercest critics revile.”
It gives a very rare peek behind the curtain to glimpse some of the inner workings of a Scottish government and reminds readers of what an unstoppable election-winning machine the SNP was under her leadership. The Conservatives and Labour were genuinely scared.
Sturgeon was a reassuring figure during the Covid-19 pandemic, and as Scotland’s first female first minister was both an inspiration and a target for vile abuse.
But something is missing. Perhaps it is because she is still in politician mode and does not want to damage her party. Whatever the reason, Frankly could do with a touch more frankness.
Kieran Andrews is political editor of ITV News Border and co-author of 'Break-Up: How Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon Went to War'
Frankly
By: Nicola Sturgeon
Publisher: Macmillan
