Ex-SNP Chief Peter Murrell Pleads Guilty to Embezzling £400,000 from Party

Peter Murrell, the former chief executive of the Scottish National Party (SNP) and estranged husband of ex-First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than £400,000 from the party between 2010 and 2022. Using fake invoices, charge cards, and bank transfers, Murrell made 1,066 fraudulent purchases—including a £124,550 motorhome, a Jaguar i-Pace worth £81,277, luxury watches totalling nearly £19,000, and hundreds of Amazon purchases amounting to over £42,000. He had total control over the SNP's accounting system, enabling him to sign off on his own expenses. Murrell is scheduled to be sentenced on June 23, 2026, at Edinburgh's High Court in a hearing livestreamed on YouTube—a legal first for Scotland. Prosecutors are applying proceeds of crime laws to recover his assets, including his stake in the marital home, pension pot, and the motorhome. First Minister John Swinney, who appointed Murrell as chief executive in 2001, has ruled out an independent inquiry but admitted that party cash controls were inadequate and that taxpayer funds may have been in the accounts Murrell stole from. Opposition figures, including Labour's Jackie Baillie, are pushing for a Holyrood-led probe, while SNP and Green MSPs have blocked an emergency debate on the issue.