The First Minister, a long-standing critic of Donald Trump, said today "nobody would be surprised" at her preferred outcome, although stopped short of formally backing the challenger. The SNP leader spoke out as Mr Biden closes in on victory, while the incumbent seeks to question the outcome in many states with legal challenges and unfounded claims of voter fraud. "The world desperately needs, in my view, American leadership that will show leadership on the big challenges of our time - on climate change, on continuing to steer our countries and our world through the Covid crisis," Ms Sturgeon said. "I think America needs leadership that clearly, visibly and explicitly respects and upholds the tenets and the norms of democracy. “The votes are still being counted, I'm not sure anyone would be greatly surprised to hear my preference for how the votes will fall, but I look forward to seeing the outcome as soon as possible. "I hope the outcome of the election does see the United States of America retake that important position of leadership on these big issues." Mr Trump has accused Democratic opponents of trying to “steal” the election, but has provided no evidence to support this. He has sought to brand postal votes “illegal” even though they have been part of the presidential election process for decades. Ms Sturgeon spoke out after the British Irish Council meeting today involving leaders from the devolved administrations and UK Government, Irish Republic and Channel Islands. She was backed in her call for greater leadership from the US by Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford. "We desperately need the United States to show global leadership on the climate emergency, dealing with the virus, on matters of inequality, of trade and of stability,” he said. "The outcome of the election really will make a difference in the extent to which the United States is prepared to offer genuine global leadership on all those issues.” A message from the Editor:Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers. If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.