LONDON – The next leader of Scotland will be announced on Monday with the victor facing the challenge of uniting a country divided over its future and revitalizing an independence movement that dreams of ending its three-centuries-long union with England.

The Scottish National Party (SNP), which runs Scotland's semi-autonomous government, has been plunged into crisis since Nicola Sturgeon, the country's longest-serving leader, announced last month she was standing down after eight years, saying she had become too divisive to lead the nation to independence.