With Nicola Sturgeon stepping down from her post as Scotland’s First Minister and SNP party leader, Star Sports’ podcast ‘The Polling Station’ discussed what the future holds for her. 

Host Johnny Ward welcomed his guest political analyst William Kedjanyi, who stayed neutral on Sturgeon’s decision. 

He said: “She’s very tired after eight years as the First Minister. She’s seen off four Prime Ministers, which I think is worth remembering. We haven’t had a leader serve that long I don’t think from either of our main parties since the Blair era. 

‘She had some political losses, I think that’s fair to say. I think that the latest fallout over the gender recognition certificate had been very difficult for the SNP and for her personally. 

“You can put lots of things on it because Nicola Sturgeon has been in service for a long time, she’s had some really noticeable successes and I would agree with that but I think there’s also been some notable disappointments.”

Ward then handed over the mic to his second guest Paul Krishnamurty after drawing a parallel with New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern, who resigned as PM following five years in office.

Krishnamurty added: “In both cases we’re talking about someone who has had a very successful career but they’ve peaked. They have far more detailed internal polling and I think she’s made a smart move there getting out. The only way is down really for the SNP really given how dominant they are. 

“Plus, she’s not finished.  She will lead if there is another referendum at some point in the future. It will probably serve her cause better if she’s out of the frontline of politics in the next year or two leading up to that.

“The bigger winner of this is Labour. We talked last week about the Labour majority and I’m not going to overcome my scepticism about Labour winning that number of seats in a country where as far as I can see half of it despises Labour.”