She will leave office as the longest-serving and first female First Minister since the creation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999.

Ms Sturgeon joined the Scottish National Party at the age of 16 and rose through the ranks to take top billing after Alex Salmond stood down following the defeat in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum and was voted in as First Minister days later.

Ms Sturgeon’s historic leadership oversaw a challenging health crisis as she announced a string of restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Nicola Sturgeon will resign as the longest-serving and first female First Minister since the creation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999.

Her government has also been facing criticism as the NHS struggles to recover from the impact of the pandemic, with soaring waiting times in emergency departments.

Sturgeon’s main political ambition was to lead Scotland to independence – but after the Supreme Court ruled last year that Holyrood could not lawfully legislate on the constitutional issue, her party will meet next month to discuss treating the next UK election as a “de facto referendum”.

In recent weeks, legislation from her government which pushed through controversial gender reforms has taken centre stage in Ms Sturgeon’s long political career.

The UK Government blocked the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Act which made it easier to self-identify as a chosen gender.

And the housing of transgender prisoners in the female estate has exacerbated the issue.

The Scottish National Party leader will give a press conference at her official residence Bute House in Edinburgh at 11am.

Nicola Sturgeon resignation: Watch a career in pictures as Nicola Sturgeon to resign as First Minister