Scotland's next leader faces battle to unite country and party

Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care Humza Yousaf attends the Scottish National Party (SNP) Annual National Conference in Aberdeen, Scotland, Britain October 10, 2022. REUTERS/Russell Cheyne

LONDON (Reuters) - Three candidates are set to fight it out to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as Scotland's next leader, with the winner facing the daunting task of uniting a country divided over its future and a party fracturing over how to pursue another independence vote.

Sturgeon, in office since 2014, unexpectedly announced last week she was resigning as first minister of Scotland’s semi-autonomous government, saying she had become too divisive.