Nicola Sturgeon's tenure as deputy first minister of Scotland

In the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, Sturgeon defeated Gordon Jackson QC[a] with a 4.7% swing to the SNP in the Glasgow Govan constituency.

[12] Sturgeon oversaw the scrapping of prescription charges In Scotland, an election pledge by the SNP originally for the chronically ill and those with cancer.

She ordered a review of the thorny issue of hospital car parking charges - as high as £7 in some areas - and, after years of campaigning in opposition, found herself in a position to announce an inquiry into the infection of NHS patients with Hepatitis C and HIV from tainted blood products.

[15][16] On 26 April 2009, the Scottish Government announced two people, who had returned from Mexico, had been admitted to Monklands Hospital in Airdrie after experiencing "mild flu-like symptoms".

[17] Sturgeon stated there was "no immediate threat to public health in Scotland", but added, "monitoring of those who have been in close contact with the two people is also being carried out as an additional precaution.

"Based on this experience, Health Protection Scotland has expressed the view that sustained community transmission appears to be taking place.

[27] In June 2012, the Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012 was passed after receiving support from the Liberal Democrats, Conservatives and Greens.

Sturgeon was retained as Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing until a reshuffle one year later, when she was appointed as Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Capital Investment and Cities and an additional role overseeing the referendum on Scottish independence, essentially putting her in charge of the SNP's referendum campaign.

[29] In 2012 she pledged to build a high-speed railway line between Glasgow and Edinburgh by 2024, cutting journey times between the two cities to under 30 minutes.

[34] Sturgeon was one of the white paper's most high-profile media champions and frequently debated its contents with opposition politicians and sceptical Scots.

When the British Government turned down the Scottish Government's idea of a formal currency union - on the grounds that the rationale for sharing a currency with a foreign country was "not clear" - Sturgeon accused Westminster of trying to "bully Scotland" and said it would "cost their own businesses hundreds of millions in transaction costs".

Scotland would then have to reapply for EU membership and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso predicted this would be "extremely difficult, if not impossible".

[45] On 24 September 2014, Sturgeon officially launched her campaign bid to succeed Salmond as Leader of the Scottish National Party at the November leadership election.

[53] Sturgeon was formally acclaimed as the first female Leader of the SNP on 14 November 2014 at the Autumn Conference in Perth, with Hosie as her depute.