First Ardern, now Sturgeon: leaders echo ‘dehumanising’ pressures

Like ex-New Zealand PM, Scotland's first minister speaks of duty to admit how brutality' of political life got to her

She was, she stressed, a human being", not just a politician. And as one who had wrestled with accepting she simply no longer had the reserves needed to do the job justice, it was her duty to say so".

Just three weeks after insisting there was plenty left in the tank", Nicola Sturgeon's shock announcement revealed the personal toll she said eight years as Scotland's first minister had exacted on her and her loved ones.