The ex-husband of the Scottish leader admits he embezzled the club’s finances by living a lavish lifestyle
Listen to this article
Average 5 minutes
The audio version of this article was created by AI-based technology. It can be mispronounced. We are working with our partners to continuously review and improve the results.
The estranged husband of Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon pleaded guilty Monday to stealing more than 400,000 pounds ($746,000 Cdn) from the Scottish National Party to fund a lavish lifestyle while he was chief executive.
Peter Murrell, 61, who was remanded in custody at Edinburgh High Court after his plea, admitted using the money to buy a motorhome, two cars and luxury goods.
“Through the SNP’s fraud, Peter Murrell was stealing the hopes, dreams and aspirations of thousands of people across Scotland, people who have given what they could over many years in the hope that it will help contribute to a better country,” SNP leader John Swinney told a news conference.
“I’m scared, I’ve been betrayed.”
Murrell’s plea caps a five-year police investigation and a tumultuous period for Scotland’s ruling party and its former ruling couple.
Following the SNP’s huge gains in the Scottish Parliament in 2021, signs of internal unrest erupted less than two years later as questions swirled about the SNP’s finances and dwindling membership numbers.
Sturgeon, who dominated Scottish politics for nearly a decade, abruptly resigned as first minister of the Scottish devolved government in February 2023 after more than eight years in the role. Onlookers were confused by his announcement that he knew “in his head and in my heart” that it was the right time to leave.
A month later, Murrell resigned after two decades as the club’s chief executive. He was responsible for misleading the media about the decline in party membership.
Three weeks later, police arrived at the couple’s home in Glasgow and arrested Murrell.
The police spent two days searching the house. They also searched the SNP headquarters in Edinburgh and seized a luxury car parked in the driveway of Murrell’s mother’s home in the north of the capital.
Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Houston said the investigation, which cost two million pounds ($3.7 million Cdn) in public money, was long and complicated because Murrell covered his tracks over a 12-year period by cooking up documents.
“Peter Murrell has shown contempt for the highest public trust in him,” Houston said. “He abused his privileged position by obtaining funds from the Scottish National Party to siphon money from his accounts and pay for the lavish lifestyle he desired but could not afford.”
Sentencing was scheduled for June 23.
A cloud over Sturgeon’s legacy
A Scottish police investigation into how the SNP spent more than 600,000 pounds ($1.12 million Cdn) earmarked for the Scottish independence campaign cast a cloud over the party, Sturgeon and his legacy.
Sturgeon and former club treasurer Colin Beattie were also arrested and questioned. At the time, Sturgeon said: “I know without a doubt that I am actually innocent of any wrongdoing.”
Police announced in March 2025 that Sturgeon and Beattie had been cleared.
Sturgeon led his party into Scottish political leadership and reshaped the SNP from a single-issue party into a governing party with liberal public positions. He has led his party through three UK and two Scottish elections, and has led Scotland through the coronavirus pandemic, winning praise for his clear, measured communication style.
But Sturgeon left office amid a split in the SNP without achieving his main goal – independence from the United Kingdom for the nation of 5.5 million people.
Sturgeon announced last year that she and Murrell were divorcing after nearly 15 years of marriage.
The UK Supreme Court’s ruling against allowing a Scottish independence referendum ‘destroys’ the idea of the UK as a ‘voluntary partnership,’ Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said.
‘Very surprised’
Sturgeon said Monday that he had no knowledge or suspicion that Murrell was defrauding the club. He said he was “deeply shocked,” and “angry, sad, saddened and deeply distressed about the impact of his actions on his family, friends and the SNP.”
“Being cheated and disappointed by a husband I loved and trusted hurt me a lot,” said Sturgeon on Instagram.
“Why he did as he did, and always will, is beyond my understanding.”
Scottish Labor deputy leader Jackie Baillie said it was “impossible” Sturgeon knew nothing about her husband as she called on Swinney, the first minister, to explain what the party knew about the crime.
“It was Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP party machine who tried to close positions and shut down scrutiny when questions about funding started to emerge, and we need to know why,” Baillie said.
