Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

How Nicola Sturgeon emerged as a star of the UK election

The Scottish first minister has criticised austerity and advocated the SNP as a “progressive force”.

General Election 2015 declaration - May 7th PA Wire / Press Association Images PA Wire / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

DAVID CAMERON MAY have kept her out of government, but the steely and polished Scottish independence leader Nicola Sturgeon emerged as an unlikely star of Britain’s election race.

Once little known south of the border, Sturgeon’s formidable performances in election debates made her one of the most talked-about figures in the campaign – despite not running for a seat in Westminster herself.

The Scottish first minister has criticised austerity and advocated the SNP as a “progressive force” with quick humour and a clipped Scottish accent that have cut a swathe through Britain’s male-dominated politics.

Right-wing newspapers dubbed her the “most dangerous woman in Britain” and a Conservative attack poster depicted her as a puppet master pulling the strings.

PastedImage-58235

Nevertheless, she is the most popular political leader in Britain according to a TNS poll, which gave her an 33% approval rating compared with 7% for Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron.

Labour leader Ed Miliband scored minus eight in the TNS poll, which adds negative ratings to positive for a net score.

Although it failed to win independence for Scotland in a referendum last year, the SNP has enjoyed a surge in support that has seen its membership quadruple since the September vote.

Britain Election Scott Heppell Scott Heppell

“It is clearly evident that Nicola Sturgeon’s performance during the campaign has resonated well with the electorate… even amongst those outside Scotland who cannot choose to vote SNP,” said Tom Costley, head of pollster TNS Scotland.

“Her strong performance in the media coverage of the campaign also appears to have counteracted the attempts… to paint the SNP as ‘a clear and present danger’ to Britain.”

Queen of Scots

A former lawyer labelled “Queen of Scots” by some media, Sturgeon cuts a distinctive figure with her short hair and colourful tailored suits, and argues for socially conscious policies she says Labour has left behind.

The 44-year-old was born in the industrial town of Irvine, southwest of Glasgow, in 1970 to an electrician father and a mother who remains active in local SNP politics.

General Election 2015 campaign - May 6th Andrew Milligan Andrew Milligan

She joined the SNP aged 16, becoming politicised in the 1980s under Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher, widely disliked in Scotland.

She studied law at Glasgow University and stood unsuccessfully for the House of Commons in 1992, aged just 21, before starting her career as a lawyer.

When the Scottish Parliament was created in 1999, Sturgeon entered major league politics as one of its first wave of lawmakers.

Her nickname at that stage was “nippy sweetie” — Scots slang for a pushy person.

Since 2007, the SNP has been in power in Scotland and Sturgeon, married to the party’s chief executive Peter Murrell, was health minister for much of that time.

General Election 2015 campaign - May 5th She may not have made it inside the real Number 10, but Nicola Sturgeon had a very good election. PA Wire / Press Association Images PA Wire / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

Sturgeon was put in charge of the party’s campaign for the 2014 independence referendum and helped build a grassroots “Yes” movement that fostered unprecedented political engagement in the country.

After 55 percent of voters rejected independence, Sturgeon took over as SNP leader from her mentor Alex Salmond, who had dominated the party for quarter of a century, becoming Scotland’s first female first minister.

“It’s the first time a woman has been head of the party and I think it sends a strong message, she is an inspiration to all the little girls,” said Stacey Devine, a 28-year-old single mother and SNP member in Edinburgh.

In her spare time, Sturgeon admits to relaxing with a glass of red wine and watching Danish hit television show “Borgen”, about a female politician who unexpectedly finds herself prime minister.

Read: AS IT HAPPENED: Tories on course for majority, SNP storms Scotland … and Miliband set to quit

Read: Miliband, Farage and Clegg have all quit – and David Cameron’s back at Downing Street

Author
View 42 comments
Close
42 Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Alan Quinn
    Favourite Alan Quinn
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 7:33 AM

    I can’t remember the last time I was served by an Irish person in any Insomnia coffee shop.

    199
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute tomnewnewman.org
    Favourite tomnewnewman.org
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 7:54 AM

    FAS should send people to eastern Europe to acquire the skill of making tea and coffee instead of leaving them long term unemployed

    61
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Conor Buckley
    Favourite Conor Buckley
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 7:56 AM

    I’m amazed you were able to check their passports so swiftly (@Conor_concludes)

    34
    See 3 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute The Viscount
    Favourite The Viscount
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 8:08 AM

    Its a lot easier to take business risks when you have the state machina behind you. Id have to put my home at risk and my familys future on the line to start up a business, and if it failed, because i had beed self employed, i wouldnt get the dole.

    61
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Justin Gillespie
    Favourite Justin Gillespie
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 8:39 AM

    The lack of Irish people in Insomnia may well be a reflection on attitudes in Ireland as anything else.

    52
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Rónán O'Suilleabháin
    Favourite Rónán O'Suilleabháin
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 9:12 AM

    Alan I think that’s extremely unfair. Serving coffee and tea is only slightly above or on the minimum wage, and you hire the most competent and eager people that are willing to do the job.

    The margin is very tight on a coffee shop. From a plain raw materials point of view, sure it’s beans and hot water or a tea bag and hot water, but the overheads are horrendous. I know someone who got into the game, and quickly got out of it. Basically he needed to sell 200 cups of coffee per day to cover the rent, 100 for the rates, and 200 to pay the staff. Any more would have to go towards advertising, maintenance etc. 500 cups a day? Sure some of that is mitigated by the fella that has a sandwich, but that’s still a lot of sales to make, and the bulk of that needs to happen in the morning and the afternoon.

    This is the service industry, and the economy is never going to pay the average industrial wage to someone serving coffee or pints. In my first job I pulled pints for £3.50/hour, and in college I pulled them for £4.50/hour. These are jobs for people in transition like students and unskilled immigrants, (or sadly, in many cases, skilled without recognition).

    Pay aside, if I was a business owner and I had to make a choice between an Irish student of 22 and an immigrant of 25 working 2 jobs, I’d certainly factor in to my decision who was likely to show up at 8am on Saturday for work, and what condition they might be in.

    50
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Raymond Connolly
    Favourite Raymond Connolly
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 7:43 AM

    People like bobby are an inspiration for Irish people to help themselves out of recession.

    65
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ed
    Favourite Ed
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 8:35 AM

    Good luck to bobby , it’s a lot easier to kick off in business when you inherit a sizeable network and fortune, but for the rest of us it’s a lot tougher, a lot.

    57
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Justin Gillespie
    Favourite Justin Gillespie
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 8:42 AM

    I see the red thumbs are in evidence here. Probably the words “help themselves” they don’t like.

    18
    See 4 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ryan Allen
    Favourite Ryan Allen
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 10:33 AM

    @ Justin: It seems they want the government to do everything for them.

    I can’t believe the miserable comments on this article. It’s a waste of time trying to promote any positive initiative on this site I fear.

    19
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ed
    Favourite Ed
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 10:41 AM

    Heh Ryan why the long face , tell you what , let’s all hold hands and skip off in to the sun, what laughs we’ll have

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Justin Gillespie
    Favourite Justin Gillespie
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 11:57 AM

    Rather that than be a cynical miserable old git.

    13
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ed
    Favourite Ed
    Report
    Sep 30th 2012, 7:41 PM

    suppose it takes one to know one

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Mark Vieregge
    Favourite Mark Vieregge
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 7:44 AM

    Irish grown coffee?

    58
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Mad Taoiseach
    Favourite Mad Taoiseach
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 7:51 AM

    Irish grown Tea, but hey, Irish orange juice is as good as it gets.

    25
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Damian O'keeffe
    Favourite Damian O'keeffe
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 7:51 AM

    Yeah you just leave the cups under the bushes and the rain washes the coffee into them…….

    26
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Phelan
    Favourite John Phelan
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 10:01 AM

    I co-own an Irish Coffee Roasting company! Bobby buys his coffee from Scotland. ‘Nuff said!

    49
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ed
    Favourite Ed
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 10:12 AM

    As the saying goes ,talk is cheap.Bobby has invented a persona for himself that fits neatly in his newly discovered media profile, he’s away with the fairies if you ask me. Big business is self serving no matter how they like to dress it up, spare us your patronising chatter.

    28
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Justin Gillespie
    Favourite Justin Gillespie
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 10:41 AM

    Have you ever asked him or yourself why that is John?

    6
    See 4 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Phelan
    Favourite John Phelan
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 10:49 AM

    Yes I have actually! I have my own views on the answers though which in the interests of my own business I’ll keep to myself, but needless to say though – as a high level gourmet roasting company who roasts & blends only grade 1 arabica beans that we source direct from growers (not futures or comm. market) we can do both better quality (IMHO) and at a potentially better price while still employing Irish roastery, technical service, office & sales staff! Oh and as Bobby says above – “feeding my kids & paying my bills…” at home in Ireland too!

    21
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Phelan
    Favourite John Phelan
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 10:56 AM

    By the way – I must add for the record – Bobby Kerr runs a great business that employs thousands of people in Ireland, sells a, generally, great product at fair prices and seems to me to be a good guy! I’ve no axe to grind or have no sour grapes what so ever! I do though think he puts it out there (radio & dragons etc.) that his support of Irish business is a little more than it is! There are probably 5 Irish roasters now that he could strike a deal with if he was really really committed to this cause!

    Best of luck to him though… ;)

    24
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Justin Gillespie
    Favourite Justin Gillespie
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 12:02 PM

    John
    If I was you I would doorstep him & knock on his door till you get in there.
    People like you are needed here.
    As Tom Robinson said many years ago
    “Don’t Take No For An Answer”

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Phelan
    Favourite John Phelan
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 12:20 PM

    Thanks Justin!

    In the most professional of manners, I’ve accosted poor Bobby a couple of times over the years – I’ve even considered going into the Den and offering him 2% of our business for a €5er or something to guarantee landing his insomnia account! Ha ha! (I jest!)

    I think he’s just very happy with his current supplier arrangement!

    As the author of this piece himself, he might even do the right thing to support his own campaign and ask me for some samples & a quote!!! ;) LoL!!!

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute M
    Favourite M
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 8:56 AM

    I find him annoying

    33
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Justin Gillespie
    Favourite Justin Gillespie
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 8:57 AM

    He speaks very highly of you

    29
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jack Eagle
    Favourite Jack Eagle
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 9:35 AM

    Buying Irish I firmly believe in, but very often – especially in recent times – I’m on a tight budget, which like most people these days need to stretch that budget as far as possible. Meaning the cheaper alternative will succeed each time, therefore buying irish tends to go out the window as the Irish product tends to be more expensive. Vicious circle but this is survival

    20
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Norman Hunter
    Favourite Norman Hunter
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 9:55 AM

    Just wondering Bobby did you pass on the vat cut to your customers,you know where the government raided my pension fund and that of others to help the service industry.

    16
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Arbitrasure
    Favourite Arbitrasure
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 9:21 AM

    Is it true Bobby is considering opening a new restaurant chain called Flatulence?
    Inspired by the branding success of Insomnia.

    14
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ciarán Ferrie
    Favourite Ciarán Ferrie
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 11:28 AM

    Surely that would be a Diageo franchise :-)

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Frank Comments
    Favourite Frank Comments
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 10:06 AM

    Irish dragons den does my nut in!!

    12
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Damocles
    Favourite Damocles
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 10:37 AM

    I’ve never understood why someone will pay more for something just because it’s Irish.

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Justin Gillespie
    Favourite Justin Gillespie
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 10:44 AM

    Because by buying Irish we create jobs, demand, more jobs, more demand…
    Nobody is suggesting that we should pay over the odds for crap, Bobby makes this point himself, but all other things being more or less even then buying Irish makes sense.

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Damocles
    Favourite Damocles
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 10:56 AM

    So if you were offered two products and one was of very slightly inferior quality but Irish but 10 cents a unit more then you’d buy the Irish one?

    9
    See 7 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ed
    Favourite Ed
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 10:59 AM

    Damocles I don’t think anyone is suggesting we should pay more for Irish stuff

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Phelan
    Favourite John Phelan
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 11:04 AM

    I don’t think that’s what anyone is saying but if quality & price was on par I’d like to think anyone would support their own home market – where ever that may be!

    The fact is – (and particularly) in the food & drink industry we can very regularly do things better and more competitively here at home for our own local market!

    6
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Norman Hunter
    Favourite Norman Hunter
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 11:37 AM

    If an Irish product is the same quality and price as its imported counterpart then i will go Irish.However if the Irish product is dearer than its imported counterpart but of same quality,sorry i have limited funds the cheaper product gets my custom.

    12
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Phelan
    Favourite John Phelan
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 11:41 AM

    No issue there Norman! ;)

    7
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Damocles
    Favourite Damocles
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 12:33 PM

    I reckon that for 10 cents you’d go Irish, Norman.

    2
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute censored
    Favourite censored
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 5:57 PM

    Buying Irish just because it is Irish destroys the competitiveness of Irish products and prevents them from being successful on the open market. Basic economics + human nature. If you want to be patriotic you should base your decision on best value, not national origin.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute censored
    Favourite censored
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 5:59 PM

    btw this is implied. Because all else being equal why wouldn’t you buy Irish?

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Resel
    Favourite Resel
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 9:55 AM

    No money to pay wages and suppliers at the back door wanting a cheque. Sure that is me every week and I don’t consider myself nearly bust.

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jack Jack
    Favourite Jack Jack
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 9:49 AM

    Companies who purchase Irish goods do so because they have negotiated the best possible deal. In terms of hiring a service company, however, many Irish businesses prefer to engage large international companies as they like being associated with a brand name.

    8
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dave Grant
    Favourite Dave Grant
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 2:38 PM

    I have a real problem with this Bobby chap. If your dad gives you millions in seed capital your rich and lucky and that’s fine but your not an entrepreneur.

    6
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Phelan
    Favourite John Phelan
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 3:33 PM

    I think that’s probably factually incorrect and very very unfair!

    He’s worked bloody hard to build his brand & his other business Interests up. He takes reasonably calculated risks (for the right reasons) in the Den!

    I’m not sure the use of the word entrepreneur could be better applied to any other individual I know of!

    What have you done? :-/

    2
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ed
    Favourite Ed
    Report
    Sep 30th 2012, 7:48 PM

    but it is factually correct! bobby inherited a fortune from a hotel business his late father built. That said he may have worked hard and all that, but he has a massive head start on the track while everyone else has to start at the beginning.So a lecture from Bobby is an empty vessel.

    2
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute McNamees On TheGreen
    Favourite McNamees On TheGreen
    Report
    Sep 28th 2012, 9:47 PM

    Revolutionary observations from the mick Wallace of the coffee world !

    4
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dave Grant
    Favourite Dave Grant
    Report
    Oct 2nd 2012, 12:20 AM

    Gift me 28 Million and i’ll think about it Bobby

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Selco Hygiene
    Favourite Selco Hygiene
    Report
    Jul 2nd 2013, 7:42 AM

    Very true words. We need to work hand in hand.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Wayne Clarke
    Favourite Wayne Clarke
    Report
    Oct 2nd 2012, 8:00 PM

    Buy Irish my arse, what if the Americans only bought their own stuff or the Brits only bought their own stuff we would be screwed. We need a global market in order to grow.

    1
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.
JournalTv
News in 60 seconds