NICOLA Sturgeon is certainly a big figure in Scottish politics. But we must ask ourselves: What has her Government actually delivered for East Lothian? The answer: very little.

Since 2018, basic literary and numeracy standards in the county have dropped by more than 10 per cent among primary school pupils.

Waiting times in our A&E departments have recently hit the worst on record, with only 56.8 per cent of accident and emergency patients in Lothian being seen within the SNP’s target four-hour window in the first week of 2023.

The frontrunner to replace her, Humza Yousaf, failed to oppose the closure of the Edington Cottage Hospital’s minor injury department in his role of Health Secretary.

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The SNP’s coalition partners, the Scottish Greens, have persistently blocked efforts to replace Sheriffhall Roundabout with a flyover to improve public safety, emergency service response times and reduce congestion and pollution on Edinburgh City Bypass from log-jammed vehicles. This is despite Green ministers driving in Edinburgh in chauffeur-driven cars.

And despite the introduction of free university tuition fees, in 2022 18-year-olds from the most disadvantaged areas of Scotland were nearly half as likely to go to university as those from other parts of the UK.

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Since the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, politics in Scotland has not been characterised by the key issues facing our communities but by whether or not people support or oppose Scottish independence.

In no way has this advantaged the people of East Lothian or the wider population of Scotland, and it is now time for Sturgeon’s successor to move on from the divisive independence debate and focus on people’s priorities.

Anything else would be a dereliction of duty.