Defiant Nicola Sturgeon wins vote of no confidence and says she will ‘not be bullied out of office’
Easy victory should allow SNP first minister to draw line under row over sexual harassment allegations
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Nicola Sturgeon has won a vote of no confidence in the Scottish parliament, raising her hopes of drawing a line under the Alex Salmond controversy.
A Conservative attempt to unseat her – despite the first minister being cleared of breaching the ministerial code by an independent investigation – was easily defeated at Holyrood by 65 votes to 31.
Before the vote, a defiant Ms Sturgeon told her critics: “If you think you can bully me out of office, you are mistaken.”
Turning on the Tories, she said: “There are some in this chamber who decided before a single word of evidence was said that I was guilty in relation to the handling of complaints against the former first minister.”
The vote went ahead even though a crucial report, by QC James Hamilton, ruled Ms Sturgeon “did not breach the ministerial code” in her actions over sexual harassment allegations against Mr Salmond.
Read more:
She had admitted not giving Holyrood the full picture about when she first heard about an investigation, in 2017, but her account of having forgotten about it was believed.
“I find it difficult to think of any convincing reason why, if she had in fact recalled the meeting, she would have deliberately concealed it while disclosing all the conversations she had had with Mr Salmond,” Mr Hamilton concluded.
In the parliament, the Tory leader Ruth Davidson pointed to the separate conclusions of a Holyrood committee that the first minister had misled parliament.
“Nothing can erase that fact, however inconvenient it is to the first minister and her supporters,” she said.
“And let’s remember, that by misleading this Scottish parliament, she misled the people of Scotland too.
“No first minister who truly wanted to live up to the ideals of this parliament should feel able to continue in post after having been judged guilty of misleading it.”
But Ms Sturgeon insisted she was “at peace with my own conscience”, saying: “In recent months I have faced allegations of conspiracy against, collusion with and cover-up on behalf of Alex Salmond.
“None of that is supported by evidence because none of that is true,” she said, while asserting that everything was done correctly.
“I am clear in my mind that I acted appropriately and that I made the right judgements overall, and I reject entirely any suggestion of misleading this parliament,” Ms Sturgeon said
And, on mistakes made in the handling of the complaints, she added: “Once again I want to apologise unreservedly to the women who were let down as a result of that.”
She vowed to regain “trust” so that “anyone in future who considers that they have suffered sexual harassment has the confidence to come forward and know that their concerns will be listened to and addressed”.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments