Nicola Sturgeon

“I was studious and bookish. Not just as a child but also as a teenager. I took myself too seriously.”

“I do not want to see, for any reason, the Tories resurgent in any way.”

“I think the Tories are doing - and are intent on doing - damage to things I hold dear.”

“I'm not going to do anything that heralds in a Tory government.”

“Voting Labour in the past hasn't protected Scotland against Tory governments.”

“Not once in my life has the Tory Party come anywhere close to winning an election in Scotland, and yet, for more than half my life, we have had a Tory government. That is wrong and undemocra...”

“If you have a Tory government at Westminster that takes us out of Europe against our will, there may be people in Scotland who think, 'You know what, we might be better off independent.'”

“I came into politics because of my opposition to what a Tory Government was doing to the community I grew up in.”

“English businesses would face massive transaction costs if Scotland, their second biggest export market, used a different currency.”

“I stand here today as the first woman first minister of our country. Every day I hold this office, I will work to ensure that every woman, every wee girl across this country, gets a chance t...”

“The U.K.'s debt belongs legally to Westminster, so Scotland, by definition, can't default on it.”

“My pledge to you is that the SNP will put women and gender equality right at the heart of the Westminster agenda.”

“We've chosen to stay part of the Westminster system, but we don't want to be a forgotten, sidelined part of it.”

“We will never vote for the renewal of Trident; that's a decision which will fall to be made in the next Westminster parliament. We will never vote for that.”

“People don't want to go back to the days, pre-referendum, when the Westminster establishment sidelined and ignored Scotland. They want Scotland's voice to be heard.”

“For me, personally, it has been humbling since I became First Minister to speak to women and girls and have them tell me how much it means to them to have a woman in the top job in politics...”

“Any politician or campaigner trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the public won't get very far.”