Another great resignation as Nicola Sturgeon steps down, and other stories
Another great resignation as Nicola Sturgeon steps down, and other stories
#WomenLead (Issue 133): Your weekly round-up on women in politics
Hello, and welcome to Issue 133!
Last month, former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s decision to step down from her position had left so many around the world in shock. But who knew we were soon going to be dealt another blow? Last week, Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon made an equally stunning resignation announcement. That's our spotlight in this edition. We also have updates from Nigeria and the USA.
In case you missed last week’s edition, you can read it here.
Quick Updates
😥 AN EXCLUSIONARY LINE-UP: Nigeria will hold Presidential and Parliamentary elections in February and March. According to a report in The Guardian Nigeria, there is only one woman among 18 candidates running to be President and none at all in the line-up to be the next Vice-President. Across the 36 states, women make up just 6 percent of candidates running for the governor’s post.
Among those running for the Senate, only 8.4 percent are women, while among those running for the House of Representatives, the share of women is 9.2 percent. A tenth of those contesting elections for the sub-national legislatures are women. Don’t forget - we are only talking about candidates for now!
📺 PRIME-TIME NEWS: Nikki Haley, a former governor of South Carolina who also served as the USA’s ambassador to the United Nations, has thrown her hat in the ring to be her country’s next President. Formally launching her campaign last week, Haley said it was time for a “new generation” of leaders, and asked Americans to reject “stale ideas and faded names of the past”.
Simple, straightforward stuff you’d think, right? What’s the scope for some trashy sexism here, right? Of course not, friends, of course not!
Enter: Don Lemon, a journalist at CNN.
During an episode of CNN This Morning, Mr. Lemon made the claim that Haley was not “in her prime”. Apparently, as Mr. Lemon explains, women are in their prime only when they are in their 20s, 30s, or even 40s (aah what mercy, Mr. Lemon!), but not after that. And how does Mr. Lemon know this “fact”? Well, Google says so, according to him!
It’s not us, it’s Mr. Lemon. You’ve got to see it to believe it:
Poor Nikki Haley is 51, so she has clearly missed the “prime bus” according to Mr. Lemon. Not current or former Presidents Joe Biden or Donald Trump (80- and 76-year-olds, respectively), both of whom are also looking to run for President again, by the way.
Fortunately, we are living in 2023, and someone seems to have corrected Mr. Lemon and his facts, and he has since apologized.
Spotlight: SCOTLAND🏴🏴🏴
In a surprising move, Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, announced on Wednesday, February 15, that she was stepping down from her position.
In words that had a striking similarity to former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (who too caught many off guard with a surprise resignation just last month), Sturgeon said:
“[S]ince my very first moments in the job, I have believed that part of serving well would be to know almost instinctively when the time is right to make way for someone else.
“And when that time came, to have the courage to do so, even if to many across the country and in my party it might feel too soon. In my head and in my heart I know that time is now.”
This decision was coming “from a place of duty and of love”, she said. “Tough love, perhaps, but love nevertheless, for my party and above all, for the country”, she added.
Sturgeon, who in 2014 became the first woman to rise to the top of the political hierarchy in Scotland, has served in the position for eight years, making her the longest serving First Minister in Scottish history.
Her political career is of course much longer - she became a member of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in 1986 when she was just 16. She became a member of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, and then rose to become her party’s deputy leader in 2004. She took on the reins of the country after her predecessor, Alex Salmond, resigned after an unsuccessful referendum for Scotland’s independence from the United Kingdom.
Her eight years at the helm of Scotland’s politics have seen their highs and lows, controversies and challenges, including the Covid-19 pandemic. While she has led her party to multiple electoral victories, she has not been able to make progress on Scotland’s independence.
“Winning independence is the cause I have dedicated a lifetime to. It is a cause I believe in with every fibre of my being. And it is a cause I am convinced is being won,” she said during her resignation speech.
Her resignation comes at a pivotal time for Scottish independence, BBC’s Philip Sam observes. SNP will be holding a special conference soon to decide how it should move on the issue. And now, with Sturgeon stepping down, the party will have some additional strategizing to do.
Sturgeon, who wears her feminism on her sleeve, oversaw some pioneering reforms and progress for women.
More women got elected to Scotland’s politics during her tenure - and in 2021, 45 percent of those elected to Scotland’s Parliament were women, the highest in the country’s history. A year later, in 2022, the presiding officer of the House launched a gender-audit of the Parliament in order to boost women’s participation further.
Under her leadership, in 2020 Scotland legislated to provide free period products to all those who need them.
In 2022, she also openly discussed her anxiety over menopause. Sturgeon, 51 at the time, said, "Obviously I'm in the foothills of it (menopause). I've been quite anxious about - given the public nature of my job - how I am going to cope with the impact of that, what's it going to be like.”
However, not all was glorious. In 2021, Sturgeon was criticised for her handling of sexual harassment complaints against her predecessor Salmond. She defended her handling of the allegations and apologized to the women who were failed by the government’s response in the matter.
But more controversy was to come. Last year, Sturgeon’s government passed a contentious Gender Reform Bill that simplifies the process for those who want to change their gender. The Bill has triggered heated discussions and was blocked by the UK government. Sturgeon termed the British government’s decision “a full-frontal attack on our democratically-elected Scottish parliament and its ability to make its own decisions on devolved matters.”
Sturgeon remains a rare female presence on the global political landscape dotted by male leaders. Her resignation, shortly after Ardern’s, is not easy to digest. But politics can be harsh, and for women particularly so, and Sturgeon seems to have discovered that for her, it’s the right time to take a step back.
“Giving absolutely everything of yourself to this job is the only way to do it. The country deserves nothing less,” she said.
“But in truth, that can only be done by anyone for so long. For me, it is now in danger of becoming too long. The First Minister is never off duty, particularly in this day and age. There is virtually no privacy. Even ordinary stuff that most people take for granted, like going for a coffee with friends or for a walk on your own, becomes very difficult.
“And the nature and form of modern political discourse means that there is a much greater intensity – dare I say it? – brutality to life as a politician than in years gone by.”
Also read: ‘The world is my oyster’: Nicola Sturgeon on feminism, her last push for independence and life after politics via The Guardian. You can read/watch her full resignation speech here.
Reflections & Reads
Hoping to make history in Nagaland are four women candidates, via The Indian Express
It’s past time for a woman president in the USA (we agree!), via Ms. Magazine
Sexist dress codes don’t stop at high school. They’re plaguing female lawmakers, via GW Hatchet
That’s a wrap for this week! Liked this edition? Then press the ❤️ button and show us some love! And please, please do share this with a friend or on your social media accounts. There’s frankly nothing quite like reader love and endorsement, so please keep it coming! We’ll see you next weekend with Issue 134!