Nicola Sturgeon ran out of road. It is as simple as that. Scotland’s first minister, a supreme communicator with a strong claim to being the most effective political leader in Britain, concluded the only way was down. The bigger and more important point is that her departure signifies an independence movement that also cannot see the next step forward.

Even before one gets to her recent mistakes, it had become clear that Sturgeon was out of ideas on how to advance the cause in the face of intransigence from Westminster. This, far more than her miscalculations on her gender recognition reform bill, is the key point. When Scottish Nationalists looked for a plan on how to force a fresh referendum, they realised she had no answers.

Financial Times