Nicola Sturgeon has opened up about her relationships and identity, revealing that she has never considered sexuality to be binary, in a new autobiography.
In an extract from her memoir Frankly, the former First Minister of Scotland, who was married to Peter Murrell for 15 years, said her sexual orientation was not binary.
She said: ‘Long-term relationships with men have accounted for more than thirty years of my life, but I have never considered sexuality, my own included, to be binary.
She added: ‘Moreover, sexual relationships should be private matters.’
Ms Sturgeon was in a relationship with Mr Murrell from 2003 to 2025, having met in 1988 at a SNP youth event and marrying in 2010 at Òran Mór in Glasgow.
In January of this year the former politician announced on social media that she and the former Chief Executive Officer of the SNP had split.
In an extract published by The Times, the former politician also discussed rumours around a lesbian affair, her husband’s desperation for a baby and the difficult experience of losing a child.
Nicola Sturgeon has opened up about her sexuality, revealing that she has never considered her sexuality to be binary in a new autobiography (Pictured with her husband Peter Murrell)
Ms Sturgeon also said she was furious upon hearing rumours she was having a lesbian affair with the French Foreign Minister, Catherine Colonna (pictured together February, 2020)
Ms Sturgeon, 55, and Mr Murrell, 60, ruled at the top of the SNP and Scottish politics for many years before she stood down as first minister and party leader in March 2023.
Her resignation from politics came after she and her husband were arrested as part of Police Scotland’s Operation Branchform probe into the SNP’s finances.
Elsewhere in the tell-all book, the former SNP leader confessed she was disappointed after finding out she was pregnant at 40.
Ms Sturgeon revealed she had been ‘ambivalent’ to the idea of having children and while her then-husband had never put pressure on her, she new he was keen to become a father.
After discovering she was set to be a mother, the ex-politician said she was disappointed, and instead wanted to focus on her career.
She wrote: ‘I was overwhelmed by guilt. I felt guilty about being pregnant, about not feeling happier about being pregnant about not being as happy as Peter was, about hiding that from him.
Shortly after telling their friends and family, the couple at the heart of Scottish politics lost their baby.
Ms Sturgeon confessed that she felt the miscarriage was a punishment for not wanting the baby.
Ms Sturgeon was in a relationship with Mr Murrell from 2003 to 2025, having met in 1988 at a SNP youth event and marrying in 2010 at Òran Mór in Glasgow (pictured together December 12, 2019)
Ms Sturgeon said she was ‘desolate and heartbroken’ after losing her baby in 2010 and confessed she new she would never have another opportunity to become a mother (Pictured at a memorial service for the Ibrox disaster days after her misacarriage)
Despite her initial feelings of guilt around falling pregnant, following the news she had lost her baby, Ms Sturgeon said she had in fact wanted to be a mother.
After her pregnancy, passed, the former politician called her husband in to the bathroom to say goodbye to their baby.
She said: ‘I had the presence of mind to call Peter into the bathroom and, together, we flushed our “baby” down the toilet.’
Ms Sturgeon added that she new that was her last opportunity to have a baby and added she was ‘desolate and heartbroken’ for herself and her husband.
In the tell-all memoir she revealed she would have called the baby Isla Margaret if it had been a girl, in honour of her grandmother and Peter’s mother.
During the difficult period, Ms Sturgeon attended a memorial service at Rangers Football Club to mark the 40th anniversary of the Ibrox disaster, and visited the NHS24 call centre to thank staff for their efforts over the festive period.
The ex-First Minister also touched upon the rumoured lesbian affair she had with he French ambassador to the UK, and who would later become the French Foreign Minister, Catherine Colonna.
She confessed she was ‘furious’ at the ‘blatant lie’ but added the ‘insult’ was water off a duck’s back and said she simply tried to shrug it off.
The book will be launched on August 14 at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, while it was also revealed last night that the 55-year-old will give an ‘in-depth’ interview to ITV News at Ten presenter Julie Etchingham next month, just days before it comes out.
This is a breaking story. More to follow
