Nicola Sturgeon has said she has not spoken to Peter Murrell since he was jailed after admitting to embezzling £400,310.65 from the SNP. She told Iain Dale at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe she will not visit him in prison and felt foolish for continuing to worry about him. Murrell was sentenced to more than five years after spending party funds on items including a £124,550 motorhome and other luxury goods.
Sturgeon: I Haven't Spoken To Peter Murrell Since He Was Jailed Over £400k Embezzlement
Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaking at the West Belfast Festival earlier this week [PA Media]
Nicola Sturgeon has said 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 while serving as its chief executive.
Speaking to broadcaster Iain Dale at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the former first minister said she will not visit Murrell in prison and described feeling like a "mug" for continuing to worry about him despite his deception. Sturgeon has denied any knowledge of Murrell's crimes.
Details And Timeline
Murrell admitted embezzling £400,310.65 from the SNP between 12 August 2010 and 19 October 2022. He pleaded guilty at the High Court in Edinburgh on 25 May and was sentenced in June to more than five years in prison. At sentencing, Lord Young described the offences as a "calculated crime of dishonesty" but said he could not identify a clear motive.
Peter Murrell admitted embezzling £400,000 from the SNP earlier this year [PA Media]
Sturgeon said she learned of many of the purchases only on the day Murrell entered his guilty plea. "Over the years, he never really levelled with me," she told Dale. "The day he pled guilty, I was still learning about some of the detail of what he had done for the first time."
"No. I'm not going to speak to him, I'm not going to visit him."
Notable Purchases And Party Impact
Court disclosures show the largest single purchase was a £124,550 luxury motorhome bought in 2020 with party funds; it had been driven only four miles when police seized it three years later. Other items purchased with SNP funds included a £3,223 coffee machine, a £3,000 robotic lawn mower and salt and pepper grinders costing more than £2,600 combined. The SNP later wrote off the motorhome's cost in accounts published with the Electoral Commission.
Murrell resigned as SNP chief executive in March 2023 after leading the party's staff since 1999. The couple's Glasgow home was searched the following month as part of Operation Branchform.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling has been highly critical of Nicola Sturgeon [Getty Images]
Personal Consequences
Sturgeon said Murrell had become isolated and uncommunicative in the period before his guilty plea, and she had been concerned for his wellbeing. After learning the extent of his deception, she said she felt betrayed and still struggles to understand his motivations. Sturgeon announced her separation from Murrell in 2023 and was later arrested in June 2023 but told she was no longer under investigation.
Rowling Exchange At The Fringe
At the same Fringe event Sturgeon responded to criticism from author J.K. Rowling, who had described her as a "world-class misogynist" on social media and accused her of being "profoundly disloyal" to the SNP. Sturgeon said they disagree on issues including Scottish independence and trans rights and remarked that Rowling "seems to be at war with me" and appeared "obsessed" with her.
The exchange and the revelations about Murrell's conduct have reopened difficult personal and political debates, underscoring the continuing fallout from the investigation into SNP finances.
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