Nicola Sturgeon, photographed for Vogue © Benjamin McMahon

In the October issue of Vogue, first minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon gives a rare insight into her personal life and the pressures that she faces as one of the most pre-eminent politicians of our time. From her policies to her appearance, Sturgeon is a woman under constant scrutiny - as she shared with features editor Susie Rushton.

"I accept that Ed's image and how he looked became a big part of how people perceived him," she said of former Labour leader Ed Miliband, "but I still don't think it's quite the same. Literally every time I'm on camera, as well as there being commentary on what I've said, there'll be commentary on what my hair looked like, what I wear. Often it's written in the most hideous and quite cruel way. And yes men aren't immune to that, but even Ed Miliband I don't think experienced it quite that way. But I'm actually inured to it now."

I'm quite hypercritical of myself… It's a very Scottish thing, always thinking that you've got to be that bit better than everyone else to be good enough

Wardrobe analysis aside, the first female leader of the Scottish National Party also sheds light on being a modern politician in an environment traditionally dominated by men ("I do struggle to identify an occasion when I was held back because I'm a woman… You don't think about it at the time, but looking back on it, of course"), as well as revealing her self-critical side.

On the cover of Vogue for the sixth time, this time photographed by Mario Testino. © Mario Testino

"Almost every day as I replay the day in my head, I think, I should have done that differently," she said. "I'm quite hypercritical of myself… It's a very Scottish thing, always thinking that you've got to be that bit better than everyone else to be good enough."

Read the full interview in the October issue of British Vogue, on newsstands this Thursday, September 10.

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