Murrell did everything for ‘princess’ Sturgeon, says former SNP minister
Murrell did everything for ‘princess’ Sturgeon, says former SNP minister
Simon JohnsonMon, June 1, 2026 at 8:10 PM UTC
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Peter Murrell arrives at the High Court in Edinburgh last month - Getty Images
Everything Peter Murrell did in his political career was aimed at helping his “princess” Nicola Sturgeon, a former SNP cabinet minister has said.
Kenny MacAskill said he had known Murrell, the SNP’s former chief executive, for “many years” and his raison d’être was to “try and pursue the interests of Nicola Sturgeon”.
Although the former Scottish justice minister acknowledged that only Murrell had been convicted of embezzlement, he said this was a “symptom” of a “wider disease” in the party of “Sturgeonism”.
Mr MacAskill said this created a culture that allowed “no challenge to the leader”, including by senior figures who had been concerned about the SNP’s finances.
He said this had allowed Ms Sturgeon to “shut down debate” in the SNP on opening the party’s accounts, with the former first minister refusing to “consider what was staring her in the face”.
Nicola Sturgeon and Mr Murrell pictured in 2016 at their polling station - Wattie Cheung
His intervention came ahead of another court hearing on Tuesday, at which a “narrative” of Murrell’s theft that has been agreed between prosecution and defence lawyers will be read out.
A former Labour first minister also said there should be a joint Holyrood and Westminster inquiry into Murrell’s crimes, which spanned his wife’s tenure as both SNP deputy leader and leader.
Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale called for the Commons public accounts committee and the Scottish Parliament’s public audit committee to look into the scandal together.
Murrell admitted last week to using stolen funds to buy a luxury £124,550 motorhome and two cars, including a Jaguar, and filing false business expense claims worth more than £18,000.
He also spent £139,971 on items from a variety of shops, including luxury purchases and household items from retailers including Montblanc, Fortnum & Mason and Molton Brown.
Ms Sturgeon has vehemently denied knowing that her husband was using SNP funds to purchase the embezzled items, some of which she was pictured with in public.
She said she was unaware of a £124,550 luxury motorhome parked down the side of her mother-in-law’s house for two years until early 2023.
Ms Sturgeon said that for a long time she was unaware of the motorhome parked at her mother-in-law’s property - RUSSELL CHEYNE/REUTERS
Although she said she knew about some of the other items, she said she assumed Murrell had bought them with his salary.
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But she has faced accusations of blocking members who wanted to open the SNP’s books in 2021, thereby allowing her husband to escape detection for a further two years.
Ms Sturgeon told a March 2021 meeting of the SNP’s ruling national executive committee that the party’s finances had never been stronger.
Leaked video footage showed that she warned party members not to go public with any concerns, arguing that this could hit donations.
Two months later, Douglas Chapman, an MP at the time, resigned as party treasurer, complaining that he had not been given enough information to do his job.
Mr MacAskill, who also led the now-defunct Alba Party, said the Murrell scandal was both a “tragedy” and a “travesty”.
Ms Sturgeon and Murrell present the late Queen Elizabeth with a stone bench at a garden party - Andrew Milligan/PA
He told BBC Radio Scotland: “The symptom is the embezzlement conviction by Peter Murrell but the wider disease was Sturgeonism – that was a culture that allowed for basically autocracy, for no challenge to the leader.”
Although she was not prosecuted, he said Ms Sturgeon was now standing in the dock of the “court of public opinion” after “having shut down debate, closed down any argument” about the SNP’s finances.
Ms Sturgeon denied during a TV interview on Sunday that she had closed down any investigation, but Mr MacAskill said this was “just not true”.
Referring to the leaked footage, Mr MacAskill said there was “evidence of her berating members of the SNP national executive” and he highlighted the resignation of the “very principled” Mr Chapman.
He said the treasurer had resigned “because he wasn’t being provided the information by the chief executive [Murrell] and Ms Sturgeon cannot argue that ‘never happened’.
Ms Sturgeon and Murrell attend day twelve of the 2015 Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships - Getty Images
“At the end of the day, having known Peter Murrell and Nicola Sturgeon for many years, I’m quite certain that Peter Murrell did absolutely everything for his princess,” he said.
John Swinney, the current First Minister and SNP leader, has rejected calls for a Holyrood inquiry, but the Commons Scottish affairs committee may stage its own investigation.
Lord McConnell said there should be a joint inquiry between the two parliaments to counter any perception that a Westminster investigation would be a “hatchet job” on the SNP.
He said the SNP received millions of pounds in public money when it was the third-largest party at Westminster and there was a “genuine issue to be investigated” over “where that money went and whether any of it was involved in the scandal”.
Source: “AOL Breaking”
