Nicola Sturgeon will resign as First Minister at a news conference this morning, it is reported.

A press conference at Bute House has been announced for 11am, with the BBC reporting that the SNP leader will step down from her post.

Sturgeon has been First Minister since being elected unopposed as SNP leader in the wake of Alex Salmond's resignation following the lost independence referendum in 2014.

She guided the party to an unprecedented 56 out of 59 Scottish seats at the subsequent Westminster election and secured a second term at Holyrood the following year.

The SNP were once again the largest party at the 2021 Holyrood election, gaining a seat but once again falling one short of a majority.

They agreed a power sharing deal with the Scottish Green Party to form a government.

Sturgeon saw a bid to hold a second referendum on independence repeatedly rebuffed by Westminster, and the Scottish Government lost a legal challenge to hold one at the Supreme Court which ruled that it was not within Holyrood's power to hold a consultative ballot.

She announced that her party would contest the next Westminster election as a 'de facto referendum', with a special SNP conference to be held next month to decide on whether that will be put into action then or at the next Holyrood election.

In recent weeks Sturgeon has faced a backlash following the passing of the Gender Recognition Reform Act, which was blocked by the UK government using a section 30 order.

The bill was passed with the support of Labour, the Scottish Greens and the Lib Dems but has been criticised in some quarters for allegedly infringing on single-sex spaces.

The issue was thrust to the forefront in the wake of the Isla Bryson case in which a rapist identified themselves as trans and sparked a political storm.

Sturgeon will address the media from Bute House at 11am.