The perception of Nicola Sturgeon in England seems either to be that of one of Macbeth's witches or outright admiration. A recet pole in England outlined the trustworhtyness of the principle British politicians including minister and leaders of political parties. Nicola Sturgeon was the only politician that had a significant positive perception amongst the English on this basis.
I was not aware of all the incidents mentioned by Bob although I have to admit she dodged the bullet with regards to Alex Salmond, surely a politician whose relationship with the truth is on a bar with Johnson's and, added to which, he is perceived by many to be a sex pest. Quite how Nicola Sturgeon managed to writh away from this scandal was staggering.
I think that the problem for many politicians is that Nicola Sturgeon is modern and progressive in a way that far outstrips any of her contemporaries. In my opinion, there is perhaps only one other political leader who surpasses her in this resepct and that us Jacinda Ardern. For me, these two women represent the future of politics and I just think that they are both perceived as demonstrating that woman are far more capable at running countries than their male counterparts. They are offering something new and different and have,at last, buried the ghost of Margaret Thatcher as the stereotype of the female leader. There is no woman within Labour who has the clout of NS.
Nationalism is generally a massively bad and disruptive thing in politics. NS is an opportunist whilst, at the same time, I just find it impossible not to concur with many of her assessments. It is disturbing because, in so many ways, I really do not like what she stands for and think she will have a grossly negative impact on the ability for England to ever elect a progressive government. A lot of people in England do look towards NS with envy and a lot of admiration. By the same token, Blackford is demonstrably this governments most effective critic and his performances in PMQ underscore just how lame Sir Keir Starmer is. There can be no doubt that an independent Scotland will benefit from a strong leader like NS. England is clearly holding Scotland back in so many ways but I think the progressive tendencies of the SNP will ultimately be a model that much of Western Europe will try to emulate. The future of politics belongs to the likes os Sturgeon and Ardern.