Nicola Sturgeon: In Conversation at the Govanhill Book Festival

Nicola Sturgeon spoke to Jim Monaghan at the Govanhill Book Festival with a candid conversation about her memoir Frankly – touching on politics, Palestine, and her love of fiction, while steering clear of any headline-making revelations.

Nicola Sturgeon and Jim Monaghan | Photo by John Bowden

By Laura Vroomen

The Govanhill Book Festival opened on 8 August with Nicola Sturgeon in conversation with local writer, activist and book festival organiser Jim Monaghan – and while the evening wasn’t entirely free of boos and jeers, none were aimed at the former First Minister. Instead, the disapproval was saved for Donald Trump, the five Conservative prime ministers of her tenure, and a lone heckler at the end of the event. The outgoing MSP for Glasgow Southside spoke in front of what felt like a largely sympathetic audience.

The relaxed and self-aware discussion – “I can probably write the review of my book right now” – featured as much exploration of the writing process and Sturgeon’s love of reading as dissection of her political career. Those gathered at Queen's Park Govanhill Church were not treated to any political or personal ‘bombshells’ – there was no talk here of pressing pause on gender reform legislation or non-binary sexuality. That said, the SNP politician was frank in her admission that during her first term in parliament (having entered through the Glasgow regional list instead of winning the constituency of Govan in 1999), she was not particularly happy in herself and at the end of that first session in Holyrood and could have ‘easily taken a step back and done something different’. 

Writing Frankly has been, Sturgeon explained, quite exposing, but any passages that were ‘cathartic’, that were written in anger with a view of getting something out of her system or getting back at someone were subsequently either refined and rewritten with more perspective or taken out altogether. This elicited a disappointed ‘Aww’ from CEO of Govanhill Baths Community Trust, Fatima Uygun as well as much laughter from the audience.

When asked by Monaghan whether there are any ‘surprises’ in the book, specifically about internal divisions and infighting in the SNP, Sturgeon was a little coy, suggesting that the few people who have already read the book have learned things they didn’t know... Clearly, tonight was not a night for big revelations. There were to be no spoiler alerts, unless you count the possible topic of her next book. But more about that later. 

When it was time for questions from the public, the first one queried why it had taken so long for Sturgeon to speak up about Palestine. Her response, that it has always been clear where she stands on the issue, having never made a secret of her ‘belief in and support for Palestinian statehood’, was well received by the Govanhill audience. She went on to say that, “What is happening in Gaza right now is genocide and it’s important that this is vocalised.” 

Another question addressed her experience of representing Glasgow Southside. A cynic might dismiss Sturgeon’s claim that the saddest thing about leaving politics will be to no longer work on behalf of people in “the most diverse constituency in Scotland” as little more than playing to the audience. However, her sense of pride at having played a small part in, among other things, the survival of the Baths and the Kinning Park complex feels genuine. And, she went on to say, she’d “never have been able to do any of the other things I’ve done in politics without this foundation [...] I owe this constituency so much.”

The evening’s biggest spontaneous applause came when Sturgeon, in response to a question about disengagement and despair in politics, talked about the snake oil sold by the likes of Trump and Farage and the frustration at seeing politicians on the left giving in to these tactics. “Let’s not try and cosy up to Donald Trump...” she said, “but beat the hopeless with hope.”

Writing these memoirs has not been easy for Sturgeon and there won’t be a volume two – unless, she joked, the price is right – but there is a strong sense that, as a lifelong fan of fiction, Sturgeon may well try her hand at writing a novel at some point. Frankly, we were told, features a story in which Sturgeon and her team “effectively kidnap Boris Johnson in Bute House.”

Now that, as Jim Monaghan quipped, would be a great basis for a crime novel. One that tonight’s audience would probably lap up.

Frankly is published by Macmillan on 14 August