Nicola Sturgeon reveals she cried in toilets after 'nasty bullying' by male MSP

The former first minister said she was left crying in the toilets in the parliament's office complex after he made reference to baseless rumours about her sex life.

Writing in her new memoir, which is published this week, Ms Sturgeon said she became "quite scared" of him and endured "months of what felt like torture".

The ordeal took place in the first term of the new parliament, following the 1999 election.

"At some stage over this first term of parliament, he started calling me 'Gnasher', both to other people and occasionally to my face," Ms Sturgeon wrote.

"At first, I didn't understand it. Eventually, I discovered that it was a reference to a story being spread around that I had once injured a boyfriend during oral sex.

"Whether he was the instigator of the story or just enjoyed referencing it to make me feel uncomfortable, I don't know, and I'm not sure it makes much difference.

"It was untrue, and the fact I feel the need to say that is in itself horrible, but I was utterly mortified.

"On the day I found out about the story, I cried in one of the toilets in the parliament office complex, wondering how I was ever going to face people.

"His behaviour got steadily worse. He would often make 'jokes' about teeth or dentists when I was within earshot. I can still visualise the gleeful sneer on his face.

"He seemed to revel in my discomfort and I became quite scared of him. My heart would race whenever I saw him or heard his voice.

"His taunting of me abated eventually, but only after months of what felt like torture."

Ms Sturgeon said she initially thought it was just “part and parcel of politics”, but later realised it was "bullying of an overtly sexual nature, designed to humiliate and intimidate, to cut a young woman down to size and put her in her place".

She added: "Perhaps the fact that I have not named this man is another sign that things have not changed as much as I might have hoped.

"I have thought long and hard about whether I should reveal his identity. I worry that in deciding not to, I am being less brave than I should be.

"But the thought of his face all over the media, and of the backlash he might try to whip up against me, makes me feel sick.

"Even just thinking about it transports me back to the day I cried in the toilet all those years ago. It is for my own sake that I am letting him off the hook.

“But he knows who he is. I can only hope that he has the decency to reflect on how his behaviour made me feel.”