Nicola Sturgeon, the former first minister of Scotland, has confirmed she has not spoken to her estranged husband, Peter Murrell, since he was jailed for embezzling more than £400,000 from the Scottish National Party (SNP). The revelation came during an interview with broadcaster Iain Dale at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where Sturgeon expressed deep personal turmoil over the betrayal. Murrell, 61, was sentenced to five years in prison in June after pleading guilty to misusing party funds between 2010 and 2022. Sturgeon stated she would not visit him in prison and described herself as a “mug” for having once worried about his well-being and mental health. Murrell’s crimes included using SNP funds to purchase a £124,550 luxury motorhome, a Jaguar SUV, a Volkswagen Golf, and numerous high-end items such as a £3,223 coffee machine, a £3,000 robotic lawn mower, and £2,600 salt and pepper grinders. His largest single purchase, the motorhome, was seized by police three years after it was bought, having been driven just four miles. The SNP wrote off the cost of the vehicle after its accounts were published by the Electoral Commission. Sturgeon denied any knowledge of these actions, stating she had made an error of judgment by retaining Murrell as chief executive when she took leadership of the party in 2014. However, she refused to apologize for his actions and insisted she had never “consciously” seen the motorhome stored at her mother-in-law’s house. Sturgeon revealed she learned of Murrell’s impending guilty plea only a week before he appeared in court on 25 May. She later discovered he had been negotiating his plea for months, a revelation that “hit me like a tonne of bricks.” She said Murrell continued to lie to her even on the day of his sentencing, describing him as “very isolated” and “not communicative” during that period. Sturgeon admitted she had been concerned for his welfare, but now feels foolish for having done so. “He didn’t worry about me. He didn’t worry at all about what he was doing,” she said. “What he has subjected me to is beyond anything I could ever have comprehended.” The couple’s shared Glasgow home was searched as part of Operation Branchform, a police investigation into financial misconduct within the SNP. Murrell’s embezzlement spanned nearly 13 years, with the bulk of the funds being spent in 2020. Sturgeon noted that she had only recently begun to grasp the extent of his deception, saying she had lived with someone she barely knew. “I suddenly realized I had been living with somebody that I never really knew properly,” she said. “That’s something for me to come to terms with, and I don’t think I’m there yet, but also for my family to come to terms with. It’s a really difficult process.” In addition to addressing her marital situation, Sturgeon also commented on recent public criticism from J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series. Rowling had posted on social media calling Sturgeon a “world-class misogynist” and “profoundly disloyal” to her party. Sturgeon responded by claiming that Rowling is “obsessed” with her, noting that she spends far less time thinking about the author than Rowling does about her. The two have clashed over gender issues, particularly regarding Sturgeon’s efforts to reform gender recognition laws in 2022. Sturgeon also criticized former SNP MP Joanna Cherry, whose book was highly critical of her tenure as party leader. She called the book “s***” and challenged Cherry to endure more than 30 seconds of conversation without mentioning her. Sturgeon, who resigned as first minister in March 2023, was briefly arrested in June 2023 but was later cleared of wrongdoing. Her separation from Murrell was announced last year, marking a significant shift in both her personal life and political career. As the fallout from Murrell’s conviction continues, Sturgeon remains focused on reconciling with her past and moving forward.
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