Nicola Sturgeon said she felt “ashamed” that some people in her team were happy to manipulate racist sentiment in a Glasgow election campaign.
In her new book, the long-serving MSP and former first minister devotes a chapter to her campaign as a candidate, in the Govan constituency in the 1997 General Election.
The Glasgow Times purchased a copy of the book when Waterstones put it on sale on Monday, three days ahead of the official launch date.
Sturgeon, then a “rising star” in the SNP, was pitted against Labour’s Mohammad Sarwar, who was bidding to become the first Muslim MP in the UK.
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She said there were racist undertones to the campaign, which she wanted no part of.
Sturgeon writes that her opponent's Pakistani origin “undoubtedly” benefited the SNP’s campaign, and it meant “racism lurked around like a bad smell”.
Whilst admitting she has not been immune to believing the ends justify the means at times in her career, she said she always felt “queasy about it”.
On this early occasion, however, she said she wanted no part of it.
She wrote that while it would have been “seismic” for the SNP to win Govan at a general election, she was aware of the significance a Sarwar win would also be.
She said: "It would have been all too easy, quietly and subtly, to have played the race card. or to have stayed silent while others played it for me."
“I am ashamed to say,” she wrote, "there were a few on the margins of my campaign who thought we should and possibly even some who did.”
However, she added: “I made it crystal clear that I would not tolerate it and anyone caught behaving in such a manner would be booted out.”
She added: “Whenever I encountered people who said they might vote for me because of Sarwar’s race or faith, I made it my practice to reply that if prejudice was the motive, I didn’t want their vote.”
Despite Sturgeon believing she had “embarrassed” Sarwar into doing hustings, in which she said she “bested” him, the SNP still lost, but her own stock had risen.
She lost out with Sarwar winning for Labour by 14,216 to 11,302, with a majority of 2914.
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