Nicola Sturgeon today announced she is ending her marriage to former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell.
The ex-first minister of Scotland revealed she and Mr Murrell, who married in 2010, had been ‘separated for some time now’ as she made the news public ‘with a heavy heart’.
Ms Sturgeon, 54, and Mr Murrell, 60, ruled at the top of the SNP and Scottish politics for many years before she stood down as first minister and party leader in March 2023.
Her resignation came weeks before both she and her husband were arrested as part of Police Scotland’s Operation Branchform probe into the SNP’s finances.
Among dramatic developments in the police investigation was a two-day search of the couple’s Glasgow home in April 2023.
This saw a blue forensic tent erected out the front of the property, while officers were spotted scouring both inside the house and outside in the back garden.
Soon afterwards, a luxury camper van – thought to be worth around £110,000 – was taken away by police from outside the home of Mr Murrell’s mother in Dunfermline.
Mr Murrell was charged in connection with the embezzlement of SNP funds in April last year after being arrested for a second time.
Ms Sturgeon and former SNP treasurer Colin Beattie were previously released without charge after being interviewed by police.
Nicola Sturgeon has announced she is ending her marriage to former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell
The former Scottish first minister revealed the news via a post on her Instagram account
Ms Sturgeon and Mr Murrell began their relationship in 2003 and were married at a civil ceremony in Glasgow’s west end in 2010
In a post on Instagram this morning, Ms Sturgeon said: ‘With a heavy heart I am confirming that Peter and I have decided to end our marriage.
‘To all intents and purposes we have been separated for some time now and feel it is time to bring others up to speed with where we are.
‘It goes without saying that we still care deeply for each other, and always will. We will be making no further comment.’
Ms Sturgeon and Mr Murrell began their relationship in 2003 and were married at a civil ceremony in Glasgow’s west end in 2010.
Last month, Ms Sturgeon said she knew ‘nothing more’ about the police investigation into the SNP’s finances than she did when she was arrested in June 2023.
‘I know nothing more than I did back then and I can’t comment on it anyway,’ she said. ‘I am just getting on with my life as best I can at the moment.’
More to follow…
