WhatsApp messages show Nicola calling former UK prime minister, Boris Johnson "a f****** clown".

Sturgeon made the remarks to her then chief of staff, Liz Lloyd, when Johnson was announcing another national lockdown on October 31, 2020.

The messages were revealed as Ms Lloyd was giving evidence to the UK Covid inquiry.

They should Sturgeon stating Johnson's address to the nation was "f****** excruciating" and that the UK communications were "awful".

READ NEXT: Tribunal move for private tenants to challenge rent rises

Sturgeon also told Ms Lloyd: "His utter incompetence in every sense is now offending me on behalf of politicians everywhere."

Ms Lloyd said she was "offended" on behalf of special advisers everywhere.

Sturgeon replied: "He is a f****** clown."

The messages reveal Ms Lloyd told Sturgeon she wanted a "good old-fashioned rammy" with the UK Government so she could "think about something other than sick people" in WhatsApp messages.

Former adviser Lloyd told Sturgeon she had "set a timetable" for the UK Government to answer the Scottish Government on furlough as a "purely political" move in the messages between herself and the former first minister on November 1, 2020.

READ NEXT: Call for law change to protect families of murdered children

Sturgeon said: "Yeah, I get it. And it might be worth doing. I've sent a rough formulation of what I might say tomorrow."

Lloyd said the Scottish Government was "clearly not complimentary about their (the UK Government) communications handling".

She told the inquiry: "We had to mitigate the chaos that appeared around some of the decisions they took."

Usman Tariq, Junior counsel to the inquiry, asked Ms Lloyd if the relationship between the then first minister and then prime minister had "broken down".

She said:" That overstates what was there to break."

She said of Boris Johnson: "He didn't want to be on those calls, he wasn't well briefed, he wasn't listening, engagement with him became slightly pointless.

"They didn't get us anywhere. We started with the approach we should work together, in co-ordinated fashion, but a substantive discussion isn't what we got.

"The prime minister was reading a script and would largely ignore points made."

She said Sturgeon's strong language showed her "frustration" towards Mr Johnson.

Ms Lloyd said she was looking for a "public spat with a purpose" in relation to the UK Government.

Junior counsel to the inquiry Usman Tariq asked former adviser Ms Lloyd if she was looking for a spat.

Ms Lloyd said: "I was looking for a spat with a purpose.

"It had been shown in the past that they would sometimes change their mind if they felt that pressure and I wanted them to change their mind."