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Nicola Sturgeon

Nicola Sturgeon62 posts

Nicola Sturgeon MSP is a Scottish nationalist politician, who was born in Dreghorn, Scotland, in 1970. She is currently the First Minister of Scotland and the leader of the Scottish National Party. She has been a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) since 1999, and currently represents the Glasgow South constituency. She is married to Peter Murrell.

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9 Feb, 2022

Sturgeon hired Godley despite Yousaf ‘divisive’ warning

Freedom of Information response0 Comments

A freedom of information response shows Sturgeon approved Godley’s £10,000 Covid commercial fee, despite Yousaf raising concerns. On August 30, Mr Yousaf’s private secretary emailed the First Minister’s Office to say that My Yousaf felt using Ms Godley could “be divisive” and “there may be many people who purposely switch off if she is fronting it”. Yousaf wanted an unnamed male celebrity to front the public health campaign instead as he would “be a better candidate, given his broader appeal”. Sturgeon’s office replied:

FM (First Minister) is content to clear but agrees with Cab Sec comments. FM is very supportive of Janey Godley and she has been hugely helpful to our Covid messaging but she is perceived to be on one side of the political debate in Scotland and so may not speak to the maximum number of people.