Elizabeth Quigley, the wife of Scotland's First Minister John Swinney, has announced her departure from the BBC on health grounds. Ms Quigley has lived and worked with multiple sclerosis (MS) for 26 years, almost the entirety of her career as a BBC Scotland journalist.
She has recently been struggling with trigeminal neuralgia, a condition that causes severe, electric shock-like pain across the side of her face. This pain can prevent her from speaking, eating, or drinking, which she noted is challenging for a broadcaster.
Ms Quigley joined the BBC in November 1999, having previously worked for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday, and the Scottish Daily Mail. She was diagnosed with MS in 2000, shortly after becoming the BBC's first female political correspondent in the new Scottish Parliament.
Her diagnosis was revealed publicly in 2007, and she later created television and radio documentaries about the condition. Ms Quigley stated that while there is still no cure for MS, there are now approximately 20 disease-modifying therapies available, compared to very few when she was diagnosed.