Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon sets up company to manage outside earnings

Nicola Sturgeon has set up a private company to manage her earnings outside of Holyrood following a major book deal.

The former first minister registered Nicola Sturgeon Limited with Companies House last week.

The nature of the business is listed as “artistic creation”.

Sturgeon is labelled as the sole director and shareholder of the company.

A spokesperson for the former SNP leader said: “Now that Nicola has signed a book deal and is putting pen to paper to provide a real understanding of her life over the last few decades, this is an appropriate administrative step.”

In August, Sturgeon announced a deal with Pan MacMillan to write her political memoirs.

The publisher said the book will chart how she went from a “shy child from a working-class family in Ayrshire” to “the steps of Bute House as Scotland’s first female and longest-serving First Minister”.

“The result will be a deeply personal and revealing memoir from one of Britain’s most significant political leaders of recent times,” Pan MacMillan said.

Media reports have suggested the Glasgow Southside MSP could have been given an advance of at least £150,000 for the book.

“Very excited to be doing this,” she said at the time. “I’ve always had an ambition to write.”

Nicola Sturgeon’s predecessor, Alex Salmond, also set up his own company in 2015 – a year after he stood down – to handle book publishing and broadcasting activities.