Nicola Sturgeon, the former Scottish First Minister and long-time independence advocate, has relocated to England and has been spending leisure time on a £150,000 houseboat moored on the Grand Union Canal in London. The move has drawn attention due to the apparent irony of someone who championed Scottish independence now embracing English life; her decision comes whilst her estranged husband Peter Murrell serves a sentence of over five years for embezzling more than £400,000 from the SNP during his tenure as chief executive.

The narrowboat, owned by Sturgeon's friend Claire Mitchell KC, a human rights lawyer, is furnished to a high standard and berthed in a desirable area of west London. Since May, Sturgeon has frequently documented her time on the canal via social media, including photographs from dining in fashionable areas such as Notting Hill and updates on her fitness regime, which includes preparations for a half marathon next spring. Concurrently, she has been promoting her memoir Frankly across the UK and Ireland and has signed representation with London-based talent agency United Agents.