There are many advocates for gender quotas to help women advance in politics - including front-bench politicians like Frances Fitzgerald. But sometimes events overtake arguments, and the astonishing rise of Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, may be an example of a woman who has become a game-changer in British politics entirely on her own merit, without any recourse to gender politics.
And Sturgeon is a game-changer. In her hands, very probably, rests the future of the United Kingdom after May 7. The leader of the Scottish National Party may well have it in her power to make or break Her Majesty's next government. Not that Nicola would call it that: she has on several occasions refused to swear an oath to Elizabeth II, and boycotted the queen's visits to Edinburgh.
To read the article published on April 19th 2015, please click here.
There are many advocates for gender quotas to help women advance in politics - including front-bench politicians like Frances Fitzgerald. But sometimes events overtake arguments, and the astonishing rise of Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, may be an example of a woman who has become a game-changer in British politics entirely on her own merit, without any recourse to gender politics.
And Sturgeon is a game-changer. In her hands, very probably, rests the future of the United Kingdom after May 7. The leader of the Scottish National Party may well have it in her power to make or break Her Majesty's next government. Not that Nicola would call it that: she has on several occasions refused to swear an oath to Elizabeth II, and boycotted the queen's visits to Edinburgh.
To read the article published on April 19th 2015, please click here.