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In a deeply personal new autobiography, former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has addressed persistent rumours about her private life, denying a "torrid lesbian affair" but adding that she has "never considered sexuality, my own included, to be binary."
In extracts from her memoir, Frankly, serialized in The Times, Sturgeon, 55, recounts how in 2020, social media was ablaze with rumours that she was having a secret relationship with Catherine Colonna, who was then the French ambassador to the UK. Sturgeon says the speculation, which claimed the pair were meeting for trysts in a house in Bridge of Allan, was "starting to get under my skin" and was likely the work of a "Russian bot factory." While she found the lies irritating, she stated that the suggestion of being in a gay relationship was "water off a duck’s back." Both she and Ms. Colonna, who later became France's foreign minister, were aware of the rumours and laughed about them when they met at the Cop27 climate conference, even posing for a photo together to "troll the trolls."
In the book, Sturgeon also speaks candidly for the first time about her miscarriage in 2011, when she was 40. She and her husband, Peter Murrell, had been "ecstatic" about the pregnancy but she was "deeply conflicted" due to the upcoming election. After noticing bleeding and a subsequent scan confirming the loss, Sturgeon was left with feelings of "intense guilt," convinced she had caused the miscarriage by worrying about the impact on her political career and that she was being "punished for not wanting the baby enough." She writes of the lasting grief for the baby girl she had already named Isla Margaret.
Sturgeon's personal revelations come amid a turbulent period in her life. She is currently divorcing Peter Murrell, her husband and former chief executive of the Scottish National Party (SNP), who was arrested in April 2023 as part of an investigation into the SNP's finances. Murrell has since been charged with embezzlement and is awaiting trial. The Scottish Legal Aid Board has approved his application for solemn legal aid. Sturgeon herself was also arrested in connection with the investigation but was recently cleared of any wrongdoing and faces no further action.
