Career women who don’t have kids are seen as cold-hearted b ***** s, says Nicola Sturgeon

NICOLA Sturgeon has hit out at the assumption that a successful woman without children must be ‘a cold-hearted b***h’.

The First Minister said she was aware of childless women in senior positions being presumed to have put their careers ahead of starting a family.

She made the comments in an interview to explain why she had previously decided to reveal she had suffered a miscarriage.

Ms Sturgeon said she did it ‘because if you are a woman, particularly in a senior position without children, there is an assumption made that you’re a cold-hearted b***h that has decided to prioritise your career over having children’.

Highlighting the sexism of the situation, she pointed out that her predecessor as First Minister, Alex Salmond, had never been asked why he didn’t have children.

Having been married to SNP chief executive Peter Murrell since 2010, Ms Sturgeon has been heavily scrutinised over why she has never had children.

In 2016, she revealed she had suffered a miscarriage when she was 40 and Deputy First Minister, at a time when she and her husband were preparing to share the news of her pregnancy with friends and family.

Ms Sturgeon said that instead of dealing with her grief at home, on January 3, 2011, she marked the 40th anniversary of the Ibrox Disaster, in which 66 Rangers supporters were crushed to death.

Ms Sturgeon said at the time she hoped that by allowing her ordeal to be written about, it would challenge assumptions about women, and added that sometimes having a baby doesn’t happen ‘no matter how much we might want it to’.

The politician has described herself as a ‘naturally quite reserved and shy person’ but she has spoken openly about personal challenges that many women face.

Now, in an interview with The Guardian, she explained why it was important for her to speak out about her experience of losing a child.

Ms Sturgeon said she had been ‘subject to a lot of scrutiny and commentary about it [her lack of children]’ before adding: ‘And men don’t get that.

‘The perfect illustration is me and Salmond: I can’t recall a single interview that he did in his entire time as first minister or SNP leader about why he didn’t have children.’

Women without children in politics have often been the centre of jokes and speculation.

In 2015, a New Statesman magazine cover portrayed Ms Sturgeon, Theresa May and Angela Merkel standing around a cot with a ballot box inside – an image the First Minister said was crass.

A year later, Andrea Leadsom, the-then Conservative Party leadership hopeful, was forced to apologise for suggesting that being a mother would make her a better leader than Mrs May.

In her newspaper interview, Ms Sturgeon also said she felt a responsibility to reduce the mystery and stigma surrounding menopause, adding: ‘I’m the first woman in this office and only here for a relatively short period of time, so if there are things you can do to try to move the dial a little, I’ve got some obligation to do that.’

In a light-hearted moment at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe yesterday, Ms Sturgeon posed for a selfie with

TV’s Basil Brush. She roared with laughter alongside the legendary comedy fox – famous for his Boom Boom! catchline.

Sarah Vine: Page 29