Former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is stepping back into the limelight once again. The ex-SNP leader has secured a primetime TV interview to promote her new memoir, titled ‘Frankly’. The disgraced former First Minister is heading out on a promotional tour to bag more sales for the book, after her publisher splashed out £300,000 to win the rights.
The Scottish Nationalist will be grilled by veteran ITV News broadcaster Julie Etchingham for a special show that will be aired at 7pm on August 11, three days before her book is available to buy in shops. According to ITV, the interview will be about the most “striking revelations” in the memoir.
Ms Etchingham, promoting the show, presented Ms Sturgeon as a highly divisive figure. She said: “Nicola Sturgeon is quite simply one of the stand-out politicians of a generation. From her rise as a working class girl to the pinnacle of Scottish politics as first female First Minister, she has charted dizzying political heights to being hailed the most dangerous woman in Britain.
“In what I hope will be a revealing encounter, I can’t wait to see how Nicola Sturgeon lifts the lid on her politics, life and legacy – and to find out where she heads next.”
Some of Ms Sturgeon’s allies have already penned glowing reviews of the book, comparing it to former US President Barack Obama’s. Nationalist actor Alan Cumming wrote: “An amazing achievement. Nicola Sturgeon manages to write dispassionately about her life’s passion, and mindfully about experiences that could have broken her.
The book has already netted her two instalments from Pan Macmilllan, according to her Holyrood register of interests. She received an initial £75,000 in 2023 and then another £76,500 payment was paid to her personal company.
She set up Nicola Sturgeon Ltd last year to receive payments from work outside her MSP remit. She has been accused of dodging her own income tax rises as she only needs to pay UK corporation tax on any of her earnings, with the company also receiving £25,000 from broadcaster ITN after she appeared on a general election night results show.
Prominent Scottish broadcaster Andrew Neil was doubtful that Ms Sturgeon would be properly scrutinised. He said: “She will doubtless be ‘grilled’ by a prominent London-based English journalist who doesn’t know much about Scotland. That’s always been the tactic of SNP leaders and it’s served them very well in avoiding forensic interviews and being held to account.”
Ms Sturgeon announced her resignation as leader of the Scottish National Party after more than 8 years at the helm in February 2023.
