My pledge to you is that the SNP will put women and gender equality right at the heart of the Westminster agenda.

Equality and prosperity shouldn't be seen as enemies of each other, but as partners. One reinforces the other.

I am a social democrat - I believe in pursuing greater equality and tackling social justice - but... you can't do that unless you have got a strong economy, unless you have got a vibrant business base earning the wealth that makes that possible.

True gender equality in Scotland - and elsewhere - is still some way off.

My political awakening, if I can be as grand as to call it that, was all about what was happening around me. It wasn't some romantic, patriotic vision of Scotland going back to what it had been 300 years previously.

Scotland is not a region of the U.K.; Scotland is a nation, and if we cannot protect our interests within a U.K. that is going to be changing fundamentally, then that right of Scotland to consider the options of independence has to be there.

I'm not making any secret of the fact I still believe in independence. We'll continue to argue the case.

I want there to be another independence referendum at some stage. I want Scotland to be independent, but I wouldn't choose to have it happen because England votes to come out of the E.U.

I don't feel we need to be independent for me to feel confident in my Scottish identity. I think Scotland is pretty comfortable in its identity. We won't need independence to preserve it... if we don't become independent, it won't disappear; it isn't under existential threat.

I feel comfortable in a position of leadership, but that's not to say I feel complacent about it. I take it incredibly seriously.

I know you've got to earn people's trust, and you've got to earn it day after day after day.

Let us put the normal divisions of politics aside. Let us come together as one country; let us seize this historic moment to shift the balance of power from the corridors of Westminster to the streets and communities of Scotland.