Nicola Sturgeon will 'make a judgment' on whether to lead SNP into next election

Nicola Sturgeon has said she will “make a judgment” on whether to lead the SNP into the next Holyrood election nearer to the time.

The First Minister said her “default position” was she would fight the next election, but she insisted she “owes it the public” to constantly reassess this.

She made the comments during Iain Dale’s All Talk show at the Edinburgh Fringe on Wednesday.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during Iain Dale's All Talk show at the Edinburgh Fringe. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire

Elsewhere, she said she believed Scotland would vote to become independent by “quite a comfortable margin” in a second referendum.

Ms Sturgeon became Scotland’s longest-serving first minister in May and there has been increasing speculation about her political future.

She wants to hold a second referendum next year and has insisted her party will treat the next general election as a “de-facto” vote on the matter if this is blocked.

During her Fringe appearance, Ms Sturgeon was asked about her future and whether she was worried about losing touch after so long in power.

She said: "I think every person in a position like mine, particularly when you've been in a job like this for the length of time I have, you have to constantly be making sure that you are in touch.

"Now, I mentioned earlier on that in eight years I've fought eight elections as SNP leader.

"That's a pretty good way of keeping yourself in touch and making sure you're listening and hearing the messages of people.

"But you should never take that for granted.

"I like to think, in fact I know, that I'm surrounded by a family that if I ever got myself out of touch or above myself, would very quickly drag me back into life."

The First Minister added: "The default position is that, of course, I will fight the next election.

"But I will make a judgement on that nearer the time, because this is a serious job and anybody in a job like this owes it to the public to make sure that they are certain they are the right person to do it, that they've got the energy to do it, that they've got the appetite, that they're prepared to make the enormous commitment that a job like this involves, and to constantly be assessing and reassessing that.

"And I think that's important, and I will try my best to do that."

Earlier, Ms Sturgeon said when she speculates about things she might like to do in future, or tries to answer these questions "a bit more humanly", this gets spun as "oh, she's going to stand down, or she's already thinking about the future".

She added: "Somehow, you don't get the space.

"People want you to answer these questions more humanly, but the media often don't give you space to do that."