Nicola Sturgeon has admitted that the 2014 referendum on Scottish Independence wasn’t all “sweetness and light” as the tenth anniversary of the historic vote approaches.  

The former First Minister said that the “high stakes” meant that some people were faced with losing the “union they cherished” because of the campaign to break up the UK.  

And the aftermath was bitter for the Yes campaign after the 'devastating' loss on the day of the vote, when independence was rejected.  

Scots went to the polls in record numbers on September 18, 2014, to decide whether to leave the United Kingdom. The close result  - 55% voting to remain against 45% for Scottish independence – was “heartbreaking”, Ms Sturgeon said.  

Writing in the Daily Record, the former SNP leader said: “It wasn’t all sweetness and light. While for Yes voters, the referendum was an opportunity to win something that felt precious – the independence of our nation – for No voters, it represented a threat to the union they cherished.  

“The stakes were high, and tensions sometimes rose to meet them. 

“And then, of course, there was the result. For people like me, it was heartbreaking. Even though a decade has passed, the devastation of the morning after the night before still feels very raw.” 

Alex Salmond waves together with new party leader Nicola Sturgeon at the SNP Annual National Party Conference in Perth, Scotland on November 14, 2014. (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

After stepping down last year, Ms Sturgeon has kept a low profile, but appeared in a recent BBC documentary on the independence vote. 

Writing today, she rejected claims that Scottish Independence was now a dead issue, warning unionist politicians that a majority of young voters continue to back the notion.  

She said: “There is no shortage of unionist politicians now claiming that independence is dead in the water. 

“The smart ones know that to be nonsense. The merest glance at opinion polls showing that upwards of 60 per cent of young Scots support independence tell us which way the tide is flowing. 

“Indeed, Westminster’s determination to deny Scotland even the choice of independence exposes a confidence in the pro-Union case that is skin deep at best.” 

Nicola Sturgeon and actor Alan Cumming campaign for Scottish Independence in 2014Nicola Sturgeon and actor Alan Cumming campaign for Scottish Independence in 2014 (Image: PA) Currently the subject of Operation Branchform, the Police Scotland investigation into the SNP’s finances, Ms Sturgeon was arrested last year and released without charge.  

Her husband, Peter Murrell, was charged in connection with embezzlement of funds from the Party earlier this year.

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Ms Sturgeon recalled that the independence campaign had been a political awakening for many Scots, who relished the chance to explore the issues around independence.

She wrote: “The country was alive with democratic debate. In every home, workplace and street corner, people were discussing how to build a better, fairer Scotland. The air buzzed with a palpable sense of possibility and optimism.  

Of course, the optimism was felt most strongly by those on the Yes side of the debate – but I encountered plenty of No voters along the way who also relished the opportunity to think afresh about the prospects of the place we all call home.” 

The senior SNP figure said that she still believed Scottish independence will happen, even if the pace is “glacial”.  

She wrote: “In all manner of things, progress can sometimes feel glacial until suddenly it is not. I believe the same will be true of Scotland’s journey to independence.  

“I am as confident as ever that we will get there, and sooner than might seem likely right”