FM says she thought May would have been 'far better' at start of Covid

Nicola Sturgeon has said that at the start of the Covid pandemic, she thought it would have been “far better” to have Theresa May as prime minister.

The First Minister made the remark as she said that Boris Johnson was “a disgrace” during his time in office.

May announced her resignation as prime minister in May 2019, with Johnson going on to win the Conservative leadership contest to replace her.

Three years later, Johnson was forced to resign after several controversies including his attendance at law-breaking parties in Downing Street, as well as his handling of allegations made against former minister Chris Pincher.

Sturgeon was speaking at an Edinburgh Festival Fringe event on Saturday hosted by broadcaster Ayesha Hazarika.

The SNP leader said the idea that parties were taking place during the pandemic “blew her mind”.

And she hit out at Johnson over his handling of the scandal, as well as his time in No 10.

“The idea that this could have happened while the rest of country was going through the horrors of it really blows my mind,” she told audience members.

“Parties themselves are bad enough, but it was the lying, frankly, and the constant attempt to shift the goalposts and the narrative.

“He was a disgrace, let’s be honest.”

The First Minister joked that she never would have thought that she would “look back fondly” on Theresa May as prime minister.

But, she said: “At the beginning of Covid, I thought, it would be far better to have Theresa May – she always knew her stuff. She knew her brief.”

Sturgeon added that May was a “better dancer than I am”.

The First Minister also responded to Liz Truss’ remarks that it would be best to “ignore her”.

At a hustings event, the Conservative leadership candidate branded Sturgeon as an “attention seeker”.

“I am the democratically elected First Minister and you can only be in that position if a significant amount of people vote for you,” said Sturgeon.

“When she said I should be ignored, what a lot of people in Scotland hear is the democratic votes and choices of people in Scotland should be ignored.

“I don’t think that’s appropriate.

“People in Scotland are getting increasingly tired of being ignored by Tory prime ministers.”