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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
National
Abbi Garton-Crosbie

Inside Nicola Sturgeon's last week as First Minister - what does she have planned?

NICOLA Sturgeon kicked off her final week as Scottish First Minister with an appearance on Loose Women.

As the SNP leadership contest heads into its final days, Sturgeon is set to carry out her last remaining appointments as the leader of the Scottish Government.

So what does the outgoing SNP leader have planned for her final week in office? 

On Monday, Sturgeon took part in her first live television appearance since she announced she would be standing down as FM on ITV's Loose Women at around 12.30pm.

She told the panel that the SNP had "mishandled" the membership number row but called for "perspective". 

Shortly afterward, Sturgeon will give a keynote speech to the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) in London at 2.30pm, which will be live-streamed on YouTube for around an hour.

The contents of her speech have not been revealed, but the event page says she will "reflect on her time in office, and leadership lessons learned through an era of unprecedented challenge and change".

The RSA speech will be Sturgeon's final public event as FM, according to the website.

It adds that Sturgeon will share her thoughts on "what shaped and sustained her during her premiership, as leader of an ambitious small nation taking a progressive agenda to the world stage, during a period of complex national and global challenges".

On Tuesday, the FM will chair her final Cabinet meeting of her ministerial team, likely to be reshuffled by the incoming leader. 

As we previously told, Sturgeon is expected to offer a historic formal apology on behalf of the Scottish Government to around 60,000 women who were effectively forced to give up babies for adoption because they were unmarried between the 1950s and 1970s.

This week's First Minister's Questions, where Sturgeon faces off against Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, will be her penultimate appearance at the head of the chamber. 

After FMQs, Sturgeon will give her final statement to parliament as FM.

On Friday, she is set to undertake her "last official engagement" which is reportedly "likely to be in a healthcare setting".

However, full details have not been released for security purposes, but it is understood this would likely to be to open an NHS treatment centre. 

The SNP leadership contest results will be announced on Monday, March 27, with the new first minister to be appointed by MSPs the next day. 

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