 That concludes First Minister's Questions. The next item of business is a personal statement by the First Minister and today marks the final contribution in this chamber of Nicola Sturgeon MSP as First Minister, our longest serving First Minister and the First Woman to hold to the post. On behalf of the Parliament, I thank the First Minister for her service. I thank John Swinney MSP, the Deputy First Minister for her service too. They have both been in government since 2007 and I wish them well for the future. I now call on Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and thank you for your kind words. I'm sure that I speak on behalf of the Deputy First Minister in expressing that gratitude. I have, indeed, just concluded my 286th and final session of First Minister's Questions. This is the final statement that I will make in this chamber as First Minister. No matter what I do in future, nothing, absolutely nothing, will come close to the experience of the past 3,046 days. Being First Minister of the country, I love, has been a profound honour. I have led Scotland through good times, but also through the toughest period of our recent history. Exactly three years ago today, I stood at a podium in St Andrew's house and I asked the country to stay at home. My thoughts today and always are with those who lost loved ones to Covid, those who live still with long Covid, with our young people who lost out on so many of the normal experiences of growing up and with everyone who endured the trauma of separation and loneliness. Covid shaped all of us. I know that it changed me and, in many ways, it defined my time as First Minister. Above all, it reinforced in me an abiding admiration for the people of this wonderful country who made such painful sacrifices to keep each other safe. In the toughest of times, our country showed the best of itself with love, care and solidarity, and that will live with me forever. Being First Minister has been variously, often all at once, challenging, exhilarating and exhausting, but every single day without exception it has been an utter privilege. I have set out already my reasons for stepping down now. I won't repeat them today. Suffice to say that I know in my heart that this is the right time. After more than 35 years in politics, 24 years in this Parliament, 16 years in government and more than eight years as First Minister, it is time for Nicola Sturgeon the politician to make a bit of space for Nicola Sturgeon the person. It is time for me to contribute in a different capacity to the causes I care so deeply about, gender equality, care experience young people, climate justice and always until the job is done winning Scottish independence. No matter how difficult change may be, I know also that it is right for my party, the Government and our country that I now make way for a new generation of leadership. I have made my fair share of mistakes in the past eight years and, of course, there are things that I wish I had done better or differently, but overall and overwhelmingly I am proud of what has been achieved. The doubling of early years education and childcare, the Scottish child payment, widening access to higher education with a record number of young people from backgrounds like mine now going to university, minimum unit pricing, a policy that is saving lives, a publicly owned, mission driven national investment bank and putting the climate emergency at the heart of all we do, just a few of the many policies that I believe will have a lasting impact on our country. As the first woman to hold this office, advancing gender equality has also been very close to my heart. My cabinet has always been gender balanced. This Parliament legislated for free period products and strengthened the law on domestic abuse. Unless tangibly perhaps, but just as important, no girl in our country now has any doubt that a woman can hold the highest office in the land. I heard a phrase the other day that really struck a chord with me, when women lift girls rise. I have tried as First Minister to put that into practice and I will continue to do so for the rest of my life. Presiding Officer, there are countless people who have supported me along the way. Today I want to say a heartfelt thank you to just some of them. Firstly to my family, nothing, absolutely nothing would be possible without the love and support that you give me daily. To my extended family, the SNP, the party that I joined at 16, when on a good day we would hit 12 per cent in the opinion polls, we have come such a long way together as a team. Let us keep going, serving Scotland together as a team. To my colleagues here in Holyrood, in SNP parliamentary groups past and present and to the central office staff who support us, to all of my ministerial colleagues over the years and especially to John Swinney, the best Deputy First Minister and the best friend I could have wished for on this journey, to our staff in party HQ who have built a formidable campaign operation enabling us to win 14 national elections since 2007, to all those who have worked in my constituency office and particularly to my current team, Paul Enster, Caroline Scott, Mary Hunter, Caroline McConville, Irfan Robani and Nikita Basi. You have had my back throughout and you work tirelessly every single day to help me represent the people of Glasgow Southside and to my constituency party and to my constituents, thank you so much for putting your trust in me time and again. To my special advisers, you have given your all to me and to the cause of building a better country. You have been led by two outstanding chiefs of staff, Liz Lloyd and Colin McAllister. To our partners in the Scottish Green Party, I am very proud of the Butehouse agreement. Thank you for joining us in government. To our brilliant civil service, Scotland is so fortunate in the integrity, impartiality and professionalism of our civil servants, and I am privileged to have been served by some of the very best. I thank each and every one, but let me make special mention of those who have served in my policy unit and in my FNQ team. The latter, especially on Wednesday evenings and Thursday mornings, really do have the worst job in government. For the avoidance of doubt, the good answers have always been down to them, the bad have been on me. Finally, I want to thank from the bottom of my heart three groups of people who, because of the nature of the jobs that they do, have probably spent more time with me over these years than with their families—at least I am sure that is how it is felt. To my security team, thank you for keeping me safe. To the wonderful Butehouse staff, thank you for always making me feel at home. To every private secretary, diary secretary, correspondence secretary, to the visits and events team, to the communications and camera teams, to everyone in my private office who has supported me over 16 years in government, thank you for keeping me going. Obviously, I cannot name everyone much as I would love to, but there are a few that I want to mention. My longest-serving principal private secretary, John Summers, and the current incumbent, Chris Mackay. Last but not least, three very special people who individually and collectively have been with me for almost all of my time as First Minister. Three people who were the core of my team during Covid, coming into the office while others stayed at home to give me the support that I needed to do my job—Nicola Dove, Patrick Crolla and Gary McGee. You three will never know how much your care, kindness and humour have sustained me over these years, and I am so going to miss you. As I come to the end of my last speech here as First Minister—some final reflections to you—I am sure that you are hoping for a new First Minister whose answers on a Thursday lunchtime are not quite as long-winded as mine. Thank you for your patience. To my colleagues across this chamber, robust debate and holding government to account are the hallmarks of what we do in here. That is as it should be, and let me thank those in other parties for that. Just maybe we might actually enhance our democracy if, occasionally, we, all of us, treated each other with kindness too, if we remembered that we are opponents, not enemies. To my successor, next week we will find out whose portrait will go alongside mine on the stairwell of Bute House. Subject to this chamber's approval, it will either be Scotland's second female First Minister or the first from a minority ethnic background. Either way, that will send the very powerful message that this, the highest office in the land, is one that any young person in Scotland can aspire to. Never forget that every day in this office is an opportunity to make something better for someone somewhere in Scotland. Do not shy away from the big challenges or difficult debates. You will not get everything right, but it is always better to aim high and fall short than not try at all. Always draw strength, energy and wisdom from the people of this wonderful country. It is now to the people of Scotland, all of you, whether you voted for me or not, that I reserve my final words from this seat. Thank you so much for placing your trust in me. First will never adequately convey the gratitude and the awe I hold in my heart for the opportunity I have had to serve as your First Minister. It truly has been the privilege of my lifetime. With those words, Presiding Officer, I draw it to a close. Thank you. That concludes the statement by the First Minister. I will now call on other members to respond, and I call on Douglas Ross. Thank you very much. I believe that the First Minister and I see each other as adversaries rather than allies, and I am probably the final session of FMQs reiterated that impression. Let me add a little balance in my final remarks to Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister. When Nicola Sturgeon leaves office, she will bring to a close a political career in this chamber that few, if many, can or will match in its length. 24 years of service to her constituent so far, 16 years as a Government minister and over eight years as First Minister. Indeed, since 1999, she has been a permanent fixture in this Parliament and on her party's front bench. In these times of political turbulence, that is staying power that many of us could only ever wish for. She has been a formidable campaigner, as her political opponents over the years can unanimously agree on. No one can deny that Nicola Sturgeon has left for better or worse a mark on our country. We have all lived through the Sturgeon era of Scottish politics, and that era is now coming to an end. Nowhere will that change be felt more keenly than within the ranks of her own party. But returning to the Government role and, as First Minister, for Nicola Sturgeon and her predecessors and successors, it remains the rarest of honours. Even rarer still for what Nicola Sturgeon described herself as a working-class girl from Ayrshire. I recognise the positive message that it sends that in Scotland every child should have the ability to reach the heights that they dream of. Do you know what, Presiding Officer, sometimes dreams do come true? I stand here in this chamber as the only recent politician to beat Nicola Sturgeon. I won the bet. The bet I had with Nicola Sturgeon made back in 2021 £100 and I won that. Just for the record, I have to say that I am still awaiting payment. It is perhaps one final example of delays from Nicola Sturgeon's Government, but I mean it in all sincerity that the exchanges that we have been sometimes difficult, always robust and we seek to do better in our politics. I think that the message that the First Minister had can be listened by everyone in this chamber. The First Minister has also spoken of the additional responsibility that she has had, and she said that in the past, to help every woman and girl in our country to fulfil their own potential. I think that, as the first woman holder of her office, she has been a role model that women and girls can aspire to in Scotland today. Those are all achievements for which the First Minister should be rightly proud. Yet, although the First Minister is a talented politician, those talents have not always been used to the best of their ability in Government. I am not going to use this session to labour over the arguments that we have had on this side of the chamber time and time again. I simply say this that, on her first day in office, Nicola Sturgeon promised to be the First Minister for all of Scotland, regardless of your politics or your point of view. But, for some, too often she used her position to further her party's political objectives rather than bring the country together and govern in all of Scotland's interests. However, I accept that holding the high office is a great burden and honour. I think that it is right that, on this day of all days, we acknowledge the difficult responsibilities that the Covid pandemic placed upon those in power. Along with the First Minister and others, I put on record earth thoughts on this side of the chamber for everyone who sadly lost their lives and those who continue to mourn the loss of loved ones. As I said earlier, it is no secret that the First Minister and I are not best friends. I am sure that she will not miss our weekly FNQ exchanges as she watches on from the back benches. In my time as leader of the opposition, I have asked Nicola Sturgeon 256 questions. Once or twice, I have even got an answer. Away from this chamber, I know that leadership also takes a personal toll on those who attain the highest office, and it takes a toll on those closest to them as well. I think that we could all see that the thanks that the First Minister gave to her family and her staff were difficult for her to articulate but are keenly felt. There will have been countless times that the First Minister will not have been able to have been there for her family and her friends as she put the demands of leadership first. I hope that, in standing down, the First Minister will be able to take comfort from having more time for family, friends and, of course, her passion, reading. On behalf of this side of the chamber, we have passionately disagreed with Nicola Sturgeon over the years and no doubt will continue to do so into the future. We wish her well as she leaves the office of the First Minister and forever the future holds for her. Today is a significant moment in Scottish politics. Of course, it has personal significance for Nicola Sturgeon, but it is also significant for our politics, as Scotland prepares to face a new era and a twin crisis of the NHS crisis and the cost of living crisis. I would like to start by placing on record my respect and recognition for Nicola Sturgeon more than 20 years of public service. I first met Nicola Sturgeon when I was a teenager and that was not meant as a disparaging comment, it is a compliment, and it is safe to say that both of us have grown up and changed a lot since then. Regardless of our many differences, even our harshest critics would accept that Nicola Sturgeon is an able and formidable politician who has stood at the forefront of Scottish politics for more than 15 years. While we have disagreed passionately about what is best for the people, I have never for a moment doubted her love for Scotland. Seeing the first woman elected as First Minister, an achievement, Presiding Officer, that cannot be understated, was an important moment for our country. It was a sign to women and girls, regardless of their politics, that there should be no limit to their ambition, that there was no position, no office in the land that they couldn't aspire to and there was nothing that they should not be able to achieve. Now, I'm sure many people will point towards our more robust exchanges at First Minister's questions, but on many occasions, Nicola Sturgeon and I have attempted to build consensus, particularly in calling out and challenging the rising levels of prejudice and hate in society. I think that that is in part driven by our deep connection with the south side of Glasgow, something that the First Minister herself referenced, the most diverse part of Scotland. I know how much celebrating the rich diversity in our communities means to her. I would even challenge perhaps maybe she's worn traditional Asian dress more often than I have in my lifetime. Now, there are many things that we can disagree and divide on, but there is one issue that I believe should always unite every political party in this Parliament, and that is the fight against prejudice and hate. In a resignation statement last month, Nicola Sturgeon spoke about the personal toll that politics takes, and I often reflect on how much our politics has changed, how much more divisive it has become, how intolerant it can often be. The challenge, I think, for all of us is how we build the politics that, of course, allows for strong disagreement, passionate debate and robust arguments, but that it never descends into hatred, because far too often, particularly online, our politics does descend into that hatred. However, it is not by the praise or criticism of her opponents that any First Minister will be judged. It will be their record. As First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon led a country through challenging times, most obviously during the pandemic. I think that she is right. I think that that is what will define her time. I recognise the immense pressure and the toll that many decisions have taken in those difficult years. At a time of uncertainty and anxiety, she attempted to provide stability and reassurance to people across this country at the darkest moments. It is fair to say that, during our many robust debates with one another, I have learnt some of Nicola Sturgeon's tales. When her grasp of the detail perhaps might on occasion escape her, or isn't on her side, she is obviously quick to point to her electoral record. We have heard it again today—eight election wins. Of course, undoubtedly a political achievement to be proud of, a legacy that no one can deny, and of course many of us can be jealous off. However, she is right. Winning is important. Winning does matter. That is why it also matters that leaders of whichever political party what they do with that power, when they do win and how they govern. I think that it is also safe to say that, never in the history of devolution, has there been a First Minister with so much power, so much time and so much political capital. Despite that, we all know that there is still so much more to do. The promise of devolution remains unfulfilled. Child poverty is still too high. NHS waiting lists are still too long. Our public services are struggling and our economy needs to be restarted. We must now urgently confront those challenges, and that must be this place's focus. In closing, I am sure that this Government will feel her absence from the front benches. Perhaps no one as keenly is our successor. Nicola Sturgeon leaves a Government and a party shaped in her image. It will not find a replacement like her. I and my entire party wish her the very best for whatever she chooses to do in the future. Over the past week while I have heard both the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister reflect on how they might have felt back in their early days as teenage activists if they had known the role that they would go on to play in providing the role of leaders of Government for Scotland. My first memory of meeting Nicola Sturgeon years before I stood for Parliament myself was when she was providing Opposition, not Government. I am sure that there were times when Opposition meant saying no, but in the first year of this new Scottish Parliament with the rights and equality of a marginalised group on the line, Nicola Sturgeon recognised that when the Government does the right thing, the role of Opposition involves being constructive. The law, most often called section 28, was a nasty homophobic hangover of the 1980s. In the first debate about repealing that law, Nicola Sturgeon said that section 28 is plainly and simply about discrimination. It is about singling out one section of the population and labelling it as unacceptable. Now, she was not the only politician saying so, but what she did helped to ensure that that issue was not seen as Government versus Opposition and that rival parties with serious disagreements could work between them to find the common ground and work together for the good of the country. I have agreed and disagreed with Nicola Sturgeon on issues over the years since then, but in recent months she has shown that same commitment to stand by another vulnerable group in our society, while so many in politics and in the media were dredging up the tropes and prejudice of past decades and redirecting them against transgender people. I can still see today what I remember from those days. Nicola Sturgeon's commitment to be an ally to marginalised people remains part of her character as a politician. I did not know at that time that I would go on to join the Scottish Parliament or indeed that I would have the chance to sit with Nicola Sturgeon on the advisory board of the Yes Scotland campaign for Scottish independence, or that I would share the stage with the Glasgow Hydro of all places, even if we did have to share the bill with a certain Mr George Galloway. I certainly could not have imagined that she and John Swinney would pick up the phone and offer to negotiate an agreement that would bring the Greens into government for the first time in this country's history, advancing action on climate justice and progressive values, and, in doing so, infuriating right-wingers, vested interests, polluting industries, and even one or two of their own backbenchers. I also see today what I remember from earlier days that Nicola Sturgeon sees the value in politicians and political parties recognising their differences but seeking common ground and finding ways to work together for the good of the country. On this day of national reflection, we all share the sentiment that Nicola Sturgeon expressed a few minutes ago. As for the things that her time as First Minister will be remembered for outside of the political bubble, I think that for most people it will be her leadership during a pandemic that changed all of our lives. At the start, as we were just coming to terms with what the world was facing, some Governments around the world chose bluff and bluster pretending they knew the answers or offering false simplicity in place of the complex truth. Nicola Sturgeon made a braver choice to be clear about what was not known and to express the same fears and uncertainty that we all felt throughout the pandemic. She not only fronted up the Scottish Government response on an almost daily basis, but she did so with honesty, clarity and humility. By doing that, she earned the public trust. Whatever the future brings, I thank both Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney for their service to Scotland. I wish them very well. My highest hope for them is that they continue to find ways to infuriate all the right people. Those of us who seek a life in public service must deal with events and times as we find them, not as we would wish them to be. Regardless of what circumstance throws our way, it is incumbent on all of us to commit to the task before us to seek the best for our communities and, in so doing, try always to reflect the better natures of the people that we seek to serve. As the first woman to achieve this office of First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon has provided inspiration to the women and girls that will doubtless follow her to this, the highest office in the land. She has been Scotland's First Minister through some of the darkest hours in our modern history. I think that it is important to recognise her tireless and substantial commitment to the office that she has helped for longer than anybody else. That tireless commitment was no more evident than in those, the worst days of the pandemic, a time of unprecedented anxiety for our country when she offered a voice of calm to people stuck at home. She will be aware of the times that she has walked in step with my party when she adopted our policies on things like childcare and pupil premium. She will recognise the times when we have voted with her, sometimes against the prevailing wind, on the physical punishment of children, on alcohol pricing, on advancing the rights of Scotland's LGBT plus community. She has acknowledged some historic wrongs as well, like yesterday for the victims of forced adoption. She knows my background and, as such, I will always appreciate her dedication, her continuing dedication to young Scots currently in the care of this state or who have experience of the Scottish care system. Presiding Officer, good and bad, this chamber will debate her legacy long after her departure. The First Minister and I are very different people. Our visions of the future of Scotland and of the United Kingdom just do not align, but I recognise hard work when I see it. I am also grateful for the kindness that she has done me personally on occasion. Indeed, the words of comfort that she once offered me in private conversation when my daughter was hospitalized are something that I will not forget. The sands of politics, the Scottish politics, are now shifting in big and unpredictable ways. This is a moment, a crossroads, a chance to do things differently and people are now looking for inspiration. People are looking for new hope. Presiding Officer, I would like to finish by thanking Nicola Sturgeon and, indeed, her deputy John Swinney for both of their service to our country, and I wish them well with whatever comes next. It is truly an honour to be speaking today on the resignation of the First Minister, although it is a decision that I and the country are still needing to come to terms with. When the First Minister became the First Minister, I was 17, and I was in the audience at Eden Court where she came to speak to voters and activists about her plans for Scotland. I will come back to that moment later, but for now I will reflect on that plan for Scotland, because that plan is what brought us the baby box. It is what brought us the Scottish child payment, the promise. All emblematic of the progressive values that the First Minister not only brought to the four of the SNP, but brought so many into the SNP on the back of. Stop the world that Scotland wants to get on is rightfully a very famous campaign line of Winnie Ewing's, but Nicola Sturgeon did not wait for independence to bring it to life. She has been an ambassador for Scotland and that will serve us well when her successors deliver independence. She has also always stayed true to herself, and as a young survivor of sexual assault, this is the first Minister I watched stand up not just when it was easy or abstract, but when it was difficult and say women deserve justice. We can also look at how she spent the last few weeks in her role. When people can't accuse her of it being about keeping her position next time or winning applause, she has tackled misogyny. She has delivered a very moving apology for historic adoption practices and, of course, spent time with the care experienced young people of Scotland to whom she was the first to say, the state does not just owe them a home, we owe them our love. At a time that we were so isolated, so separate, Nicola Sturgeon was trusted, invited and welcomed into millions of living rooms across the country. The last time I was allowed to visit my mother was before the lockdown that she caught Covid in. We sat in her garden and she told me all about what Nicola Sturgeon had said to her that morning, talking about the First Minister of Scotland—like this was someone from down the road who had popped in for a coffee—and that is the kind of connection that Nicola Sturgeon has made with people who will lengthen breadth of this country. That brings me on to the second part of her legacy because it is not just the policies that she put in place, it is the people that she lifted as she climbed, the women that she mentored, inspired, empowered, the people that she told, their passion, their voluntary work, their opinions are politically valuable. They had been disenfranchised and she brought them in and gave them a voice and they are all a part of her legacy. That includes me because that day in Eden Court I got to sit in the front row and ask the First Minister what she was going to do to make sure that more women and girls would enter politics in future. It is a question that has been thoroughly answered since, but I remember her specific reply to me because she said, well, Emma, I would like to see more young women, Emma, making their voice heard, Emma. Those words led me here and I think that that will be the same for other women in this place, both now and in the future, because I see little girls dressing up as Nicola Sturgeon for World Book Day. I think that the First Minister has very safely achieved the goal that she set out in her statement earlier. She has lifted and girls across Scotland are rising to meet her. As one of those girls, I am confident that she will continue to inspire no matter what she does next. Now, Presiding Officer, this has been a personal contribution, but as I speak on behalf of the SNP today, I know that we all want to thank her for her service, her selflessness and her dignity as First Minister. I am going to end just by saying that I have read quite a few books on the back of First Minister's recommendations and I cannot wait to read the books that Nicola Sturgeon is going to write. I am going to be brief, firstly, because I know that everybody wants to go and have lunch, but secondly, I am not sure that I can go much further without crying, so just to say from me to colleagues across this chamber, thank you for your generous comments, they mean a great deal to me and I deeply appreciate them. To Emma, Emma, I remember that exchange really well and I cannot tell you how proud I am of you that you now sit in this Parliament making such a positive contribution and who knows me one day stand here at this place in our Parliament. Thank you for that contribution. Emma is one of probably thousands of interactions I have had with girls and young women across these eight years of my time as First Minister and if I have encouraged even just a few of them to believe more in themselves and to stand a bit taller, then I will be very happy because that means a great deal to me. More generally, to lead this country is the pinnacle of what this shy introverted, that is still the case, not just when I was a young girl, but what this shy introverted working-class girl from Ayrshire could ever have dreamed of. This country is truly amazing and the people who live in this country, no matter where they came from, are also amazing. As I have travelled overseas as First Minister and that has been an enormous privilege, I have had the opportunity to see just how much Scotland punches above her weight and I have seen directly the respect that we are held in by people right across the globe. Perhaps all we need to do now here at home is believe a bit more in ourselves. Even though I know without a shadow of a doubt that the time is right for me to go, I do feel emotional today. Perhaps the reason for that is that I know beyond doubt that even if I lived to be 100 years old, there is no phase in my life that will be as special or as meaningful to me as the past eight years have been. You will, of course, see me very soon on a backbench near here, but in the meantime, for the final time for me, as First Minister, to the people of Scotland, thank you from the bottom of my heart for the privilege of being your First Minister. Thank you. It is now time to move on to the next item of business, which is a member's business debate in the name of Pauline McNeill. There will be a short suspension to allow those leaving the Chamber and public gallery to do so before the debate begins.