Nicola Sturgeon’s time as a powerhouse in Scottish politics has spanned almost 40 years.
The 54-year-old may have qualified as a solicitor early in her professional career, but it is in politics where she has truly made her mark ever since joining the SNP as a member at the age of 16.
Ms Sturgeon would go on to be elected to the Scottish Parliament in 1999, firstly as an additional member for the Glasgow electoral region before becoming the MSP for Glasgow Southside in 2007.
The MSP would go on to succeed Alex Salmond as SNP leader and First Minister in 2014, serving in the role for almost a decade, until her resignation in 2023.
Her spell as leader of Scotland would span the Covid-19 pandemic, and she has credited improvements to the Scottish Child Payment among her crowning achievements.
As Ms Sturgeon announces she is stepping down at next year’s Scottish election, The Scotsman looks back at her political career in photographs.
9. One of the first Covid briefings in Scotland
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon holds a briefing on the Covid outbreak at St Andrew's House on March 25, 2020 in Edinburgh | Getty Images
10. In happier times in 2014
The-then SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon is given a kiss by her husband Peter Murrell at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, after she was voted in as First Minister of Scotland in 2014. | PA
11. With new MSPs outside the V&A Museum in 2019
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon takes a selfie as she joins SNP's newly elected MPs for a group photo call outside the V&A Museum in Dundee. | PA
12. On the march for independence in 2013
Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during a march and rally in Edinburgh, calling for a Yes vote in the 2014 independence referendum. The event appeared to draw crowds from across the country, with marchers filling the top half of the Royal Mile before wending their way along a city centre route. | PA