Nicola Sturgeon’s husband charged in SNP finance probe

The husband of Scotland’s former first minister Nicola Sturgeon has been charged in connection with allegations of the embezzlement of funds from the Scottish National party.

Peter Murrell, the SNP’s former chief executive, was arrested earlier on Thursday, after having previously been arrested on April 5 last year as part of Operation Branchform, an investigation that has cast a shadow over the party that has governed Scotland for 17 years.

Police Scotland confirmed that a 59-year-old man, who was taken into custody for questioning on Thursday morning, was charged in the evening in connection with the alleged embezzlement of funds from the Scottish National Party and released. A report would be sent to the public prosecutor in due course, the force added.

Murrell, who resigned after a long tenure with the SNP in March 2023, was the first of three arrests made last year relating to the investigation, which later extended to former party treasurer Colin Beattie and to Sturgeon. All three were released without charge at the time.

The TV imagery of police erecting a tent and screens outside the Glasgow home of Murrell and Sturgeon fuelled a political firestorm that has cast a shadow over the tenure of her successor, first minister Humza Yousaf.

The police declined to comment further. 

An SNP spokesperson said: “While this development will come as a shock, the police investigation remains ongoing and it would, therefore, be inappropriate to make any comment.”

The investigation, launched in 2021, has focused on complaints that party donations given during independence referendum fundraising appeals of 2017 and 2019 were spent on other things.

While the SNP claimed that more than £600,000 was ringfenced for a referendum campaign, the independent Electoral Commission watchdog said the party had less than £100,000 in cash and cash equivalents.

Further questions were also made about a loan of £107,620 made by Murrell to the party in 2021 for working capital purposes.

Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said the rearrest was another “incredibly concerning development” in a long-running investigation.

Scottish Conservative chair Craig Hoy described Murrell’s rearrest as an “extremely serious development”.