I had a wonderful night with so many friends, family and colleagues who had all came together to celebrate our First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s 20 years as an MSP.

I have known Nicola for many years, and I have watched as she effortlessly transitioned from being a leader locally and within our party, to the formidable leader of our great country that she is today.

Nicola is a leader who cares, especially about those constituents who she represents with such passion and dedication, which is why she is such a well-respected and beloved local MSP.

I am lucky to have been elected to a Westminster constituency that overlaps Nicola’s Southside Holyrood Constituency and my office regularly works with hers, allowing me to see at first-hand what our FM is doing for our communities.

However, Nicola is not just a local MSP, she is a leader of our party and country, and Scotland is the better place for that.

Every home in Scotland has benefited in some way from the SNP Government policies. As a Government, we have transformed education and bolstered our health service, built thousands of affordable homes and made the Scottish tax system the fairest in Scotland. This is being done in the face of a decade of Westminster cuts and austerity.

Here are just some of the achievements under Nicola’s leadership:

  • Baby Box
  • 30hrs of Nursery Childcare by 2020
  • Tackling Period Poverty
  • Free Tuition Fees
  • Free Prescriptions
  • Free Travel for over 1million Scots
  • Free Personal Care for All
  • Record Health and Education Spending
  • Lowest Employment Rates on Record
  • International Exports up 57%
  • Over 1300 Organisations accredited Living Wage Employers
  • Demonstrated Global Leadership being the first UK Country to declare a Climate Emergency
  • Outperform rest of UK in cutting Greenhouse Omissions with Renewable Energy Generation at Record High
  • Delivered the global award-winning Queensferry Crossing

And so much more…

A big congratulations to Nicola on reaching this milestone and I hope to see her serving our great city and our country for many years to come.