Nicola Sturgeon has vehemently denied allegations that she suppressed concerns about the Scottish National Party’s finances during her tenure as leader as she promised further revelations now that she is "able to speak".
The former first minister hit back at critics, asserting that many claims made about her are "not true" and warning: "Now that I’m able to speak, wait for a lot more of it."
Her comments follow the admission by Peter Murrell, her estranged husband and the SNP’s former chief executive, that he embezzled more than £400,000 from the party over a 12-year period. This revelation has intensified calls for an independent inquiry into the SNP’s financial affairs.
Critics, including former SNP MP and National Executive Committee (NEC) member Joanna Cherry, have alleged that individuals who raised financial concerns under Ms Sturgeon’s leadership were silenced and branded "traitors".
A leaked video from a 2023 NEC meeting reportedly showed Ms Sturgeon cautioning party members to be "very careful," hinting at underlying financial issues. Just two months later, Ms Cherry, alongside then-SNP treasurer Douglas Chapman, resigned from the ruling body, citing transparency concerns.
Appearing at the Hay Festival in Wales, Ms Sturgeon directly addressed the accusation of stifling questions about party accounts.
"No, I didn’t," she stated unequivocally. She clarified that comments attributed to her dated back to 2021, adding, "there was no suggestion that there was an issue of embezzlement of SNP funds until about, to my knowledge, 2023."
She dismissed as "rubbish" any suggestion that the accounts were not properly scrutinised, emphasising they were audited by professional accountants.
Ms Sturgeon elaborated on the context of her 2021 remarks, explaining they related to a police investigation into funds raised for a second independence referendum. At the time, questions arose about whether these funds had been improperly used for election campaigning.
"I thought that was an unfair criticism," she said, expressing frustration that some NEC members were "leaking things to the press" rather than properly scrutinising the accounts.
She explained her prolonged silence: "Again, I’ve not been able to speak for the last three years that this police investigation has been under way because it’s been a live criminal case. So again, I’ve had to sit and listen to people say things about me, read things about me that are not true, and so now that I’m able to speak, wait for a lot more of it."
Ms Sturgeon served as Scotland’s first minister from 2014 to 2023, while Mr Murrell held the position of SNP chief executive from 2001 to 2023. Mr Murrell pleaded guilty to embezzling over £400,000, which he used to purchase a range of items including a motorhome, various luxury goods, two cars, designer kitchenware, multiple pairs of shoes, expensive pens, and a £1,200 space telescope.
Addressing the public’s reaction, Ms Sturgeon acknowledged that people have been "quick to point the finger of suspicion at me" and understood why questions would be raised about her awareness of the crimes.
However, she asserted that she had been "completely cleared and exonerated" by police, revealing that she had been deceived by her former husband.
"It’s a deeply painful thing personally to come to terms with and I’m only in the foothills of coming to terms with the fact that the person I was married to for a long time is somebody I clearly didn’t know as well as I thought I did," she shared. "Somebody who misled me, deceived me, lied to me, and put me in considerable peril."
She criticised the media’s focus on her, stating: "I think my picture has been on more front pages in Scotland this week than my former husband’s has and I don’t think that is right."
She added, "It’s the age-old cry of when a man does something wrong, well, the woman must have known about it, somehow it’s her fault." Ms Sturgeon maintained that she was unaware of many of the purchases, saying, "A lot of it I’ve read about for the first time in the papers."
"I was reading stuff on Monday that I’d never known before, items that I don’t know who they were bought for, I don’t know where they were, but I didn’t see them. And those things I was aware of, nothing made me think there were things he couldn’t have afforded."
Ms Sturgeon expressed feeling "vilified" and concluded: "I do not think it is fair that I get held responsible for the crimes of somebody else."
The former first minister conceded that it was a "misjudgement" to retain her then-husband as chief executive, a role he held while they jointly led Scotland’s governing party for years.
She disclosed that her predecessor, Alex Salmond, had advised her against keeping Mr Murrell in the post.
"Definitely, with the benefit of hindsight, that probably was a decision I wish I’d taken differently," she reflected, explaining that she did not believe it was fair for Mr Murrell to lose his job simply because she became leader.
"If I could turn the clock back, of course, I would take a different decision," she added. "So I take responsibility for that. I still don’t think it makes me responsible for somebody committing a crime."
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