Nicola Sturgeon became the first woman to hold the position of Scottish first minister on Wednesday, after serving as deputy to Alex Salmond since 2007. Sturgeon has also succeeded Salmond as leader of the Scottish National Party, as Salmond had announced he was stepping down from both posts in the aftermath of the Scottish vote on independence.

Both politicians were strongly involved with the Yes Scotland campaign, whose goal was to have Scotland gain independence from the United Kingdom. A September vote on the issue yielded a 55%-45% majority for “No,” as in Scotland should not become independent. The following day, Salmond declared his intent to resign from his positions in November, although he has not retired from politics completely.

Sturgeon has already pledged to provide equal opportunities to both genders, and plans to achieve progress by working with all political parties.

Sturgeon became a registered SNP member at the age of 16, and first joined the Scottish Parliament (known as “Holyrood”) in 1999. She is a fan of the Danish TV series Borgen, which is a fictional drama where the main character becomes the first female prime minister of Denmark.

Sturgeon was elected First Minister by the Scottish Parliament. There are no term limits for the office, but the position usually goes to the leader of the majority party.