The Reinvention of Nicola Sturgeon

The entertainer called "Nicola Sturgeon" who deplores partisan, toxic, politics should not be confused with the politician called Nicola Sturgeon.

Five years ago Lorraine Kelly, the television presenter, won a splendid victory against Britain’s tax authorities. Ms Kelly, the pride of Dundee and daytime telly star, disputed HMRC’s claim she should properly be considered an employee of ITV and not, as she and her accountants insisted, a genuine freelancer. At stake was £1.2m in taxes.

She won, with the judge ruling that:

"We did not accept that Ms Kelly simply appeared as herself - we were satisfied that Ms Kelly presents a persona of herself, she presents herself as a brand and that is the brand ITV sought when engaging her.

"All parts of the show are a performance, the act being to perform the role of a friendly, chatty and fun personality.

"Quite simply put, the programmes are entertaining, Ms Kelly is entertaining and the 'DNA' referred to is the personality, performance, the 'Lorraine Kelly' brand that is brought to the programmes."

She added: "We…