Nicola Sturgeon’s husband, Peter Murrell, arrested in SNP funding inquiry

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Peter Murrell, Nicola Sturgeon’s husband, has been arrested by Scottish police in an investigation into the Scottish National party’s fundraising and finances.

Police Scotland said a 58-year-old man had been “arrested as a suspect” on Wednesday and added that its officers were carrying out searches at addresses linked to the investigation.

The addresses being searched were thought to include Sturgeon and Murrell’s home in Glasgow, where the front door was shielded by a tent, and the SNP’s headquarters close to the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh.

Police vans were parked in a side street close to the SNP’s offices, and police tape went up around the perimeter of Sturgeon’s home. Murrell is a former chief executive of the SNP.

The investigation was launched after complaints about the SNP’s handling of ?600,000 in donations raised by the party, ostensibly to campaign for and hold a second independence referendum. It is alleged the money was used instead to help with the party’s day-to-day running costs.

In a short statement, the police said: “A 58-year-old man has today, Wednesday, 5 April 2023, been arrested as a suspect in connection with the ongoing investigation into the funding and finances of the Scottish National party.

“The man is in custody and is being questioned by Police Scotland detectives. Officers are also carrying out searches at a number of addresses as part of the investigation. A report will be sent to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. [As] the investigation is ongoing we are unable to comment further.”

Scotland’s first minister and the SNP leader, Humza Yousaf, said reports that Murrell had been arrested were “challenging” but declined to comment on the live police investigation. “The news this morning, it’s challenging and it’s difficult,” Yousaf told reporters. “The SNP has fully cooperated with the investigation, and it will continue to do so.”

He said he did not believe the police investigation contributed to Sturgeon’s decision to quit in February after eight years as party leader.

When she announced her resignation, Sturgeon referred to the significant physical and mental impact on her of leading the country through the Covid crisis and the relentless demands of being first minister. She had refused to respond directly to a question following her resignation statement about whether the police inquiry had also been a factor, but Yousaf said he did not believe it was.

“I believe her very much when she says how exhausted she was,” he told the PA Media news agency. “I think anybody who watched her over the course of the pandemic during those daily briefings, day after day, I think anybody could understand how exhausting that is.

“So, no, I don’t think [Murrell’s arrest] is the reason why Nicola Sturgeon stood down.”

In a statement, the SNP said: “Clearly it would not be appropriate to comment on any live police investigation but the SNP have been cooperating fully with this investigation and will continue to do so. At its meeting on Saturday, the governing body of the SNP, the NEC, agreed to a review of governance and transparency – that will be taken forward in the coming weeks.”

Jackie Baillie, the Scottish Labour party’s deputy leader, said: “This is a deeply concerning development and the Police Scotland investigation must be allowed to proceed without interference.”

Donald Cameron, the Scottish Conservatives’ shadow constitution secretary, said: “Senior SNP politicians, including Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf, must cooperate fully with the investigation into this very serious case and commit to openness and transparency.

“While there is an ongoing police investigation into the SNP’s finances, and given that a suspect has now been arrested, it is right that due process is followed and any potential wrongdoing investigated thoroughly by the police.”

Murrell had been the chief executive of the SNP since 1999 and is widely credited with playing a key role in Alex Salmond’s efforts to reorganise and professionalise the party, enabling it to win the 2007 Holyrood elections by beating Scottish Labour by a single seat.

In the next Holyrood election in 2011, the SNP won an unprecedented overall majority, which helped persuade the then Conservative and Liberal Democrat UK coalition government to agree to authorise a referendum on independence.

Murrell, who was brought up in Edinburgh, had meanwhile been in a long-term relationship with Sturgeon, who had become the party’s deputy leader under Salmond in 2004. The couple married in 2010, living in southern Glasgow where Sturgeon has been an MSP since the first Scottish parliament in 1999.

Under their direction, the party won a reputation for discipline and effectiveness. After Sturgeon unexpectedly resigned as SNP leader in mid-February, Murrell came under heavy pressure from leadership candidates to disclose the size of the party’s membership.

The party repeatedly denied media reports that its membership had fallen by 30% over the last year, but 11 days before the contest ended, it admitted the party had 72,000 members compared with 104,000 in December 2021.