Sturgeon stops contact after Murrell’s SNP funds embezzlement jailing

Nicola Sturgeon has not spoken to her estranged husband Peter Murrell since he was jailed for embezzling more than £400,000 from the SNP while serving as its chief executive.

The former first minister told a podcast she would not visit Murrell in prison and felt betrayed by continuing to care about him. Speaking to broadcaster Iain Dale at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Sturgeon said she was still learning what Murrell had done on the day he pleaded guilty. She admitted she felt like a "mug" for not knowing about his crimes sooner.

Murrell, 61, was sentenced to more than five years in prison after admitting to using party funds for personal purchases, including a £124,550 luxury motorhome that had only been driven four miles before being seized by police. Other items bought with SNP money included a £3,223 coffee machine, a £3,000 robotic lawn mower, and salt and pepper grinders costing over £2,600. Sturgeon revealed she only discovered Murrell’s guilty plea a week before his first court appearance, calling the revelation a shock.

Sturgeon also said she believed Murrell had been lying to her right up until he pleaded guilty, adding that he had become increasingly isolated in the months leading up to his arrest. The SNP wrote off the cost of the motorhome in its accounts after the Electoral Commission published its findings. Murrell resigned as the party’s chief executive in March 2023 after police searched the couple’s Glasgow home as part of Operation Branchform. The scandal marks one of the biggest financial betrayals in modern Scottish politics.