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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Nadeem Badshah

Former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon passes driving test at 53

Nicola Sturgeon getting out of a car
Nicola Sturgeon praised her driving instructor as an excellent teacher. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA

Nicola Sturgeon has announced on social media she has passed her driving test at the age of 53.

The former first minister of Scotland said she was successful on her first attempt. She posted a photograph of herself and Andy McFarlane, her driving instructor, on Instagram on Monday.

The MSP for Glasgow Southside, who has 128,000 followers on the social media app, wrote: “So this happened today – at the tender age of 53, I passed my driving test (first time!!!).

“I couldn’t have done it without my brilliant instructor Andy MacFarlane of Caledonian Learner Driver Training.

“It was really important to me, as a 53-year-old former FM, not just to have an excellent teacher but someone I could trust and feel comfortable with – Andy was all of that and more.

“The whole experience has taken me well out of any notion of a comfort zone, but hopefully proves that it’s never too late in life to do something new.”

Sturgeon resigned as Scotland’s first minister and SNP leader in March after nine years in the role. Humza Yousaf was elected as her successor.

In June, she was detained and questioned as part of a police investigation into the SNP’s finances. She was released without being charged later the same day.

Sturgeon was Scotland’s longest-serving first minister and was ranked the second most powerful woman in the UK after Queen Elizabeth II by Forbes magazine in 2016.

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