Nicola Sturgeon dodges question on ‘missing’ £600,000 campaign funds

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first female first minister, announced that she would be stepping down as leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) on Wednesday after eight years in power.

In an often emotional address from Bute House in Edinburgh, Ms Sturgeon spoke candidly about her time in office, saying it was time for her to make way for fresh talent, admitting she had been something of a divisive figure in British public life and taking the opportunity to warn against the increasingly toxic nature of political debate at home and abroad.

She denied that she had felt compelled to step aside by a series of recent political setbacks, notably the failure to secure a second independence referendum and a move by Westminster to block new Holyrood gender recognition legislation, and said steering Scotland through the Covid-19 pandemic had been the greatest challenge of her career.

One question Ms Sturgeon declined to be drawn on, however, was whether or not she had been interviewed by police as part of an investigation into the SNP’s campaign finances.

At the close of Wednesday’s press conference, Ms Sturgeon was asked by a reporter: “Have you been or do you expect to be interviewed by the police, who are looking into your party’s finances?”

The first minister, gathering her notes, answered: “I’m not going to discuss an ongoing police investigation. I wouldn’t do it on any issue and I’m not going to do it now.”

The question related to a probe into the fate of more than £600,000 raised by Scottish independence campaigners in 2017, which was supposed to have been ring-fenced for spending on that issue only but was seemingly “missing” from party coffers when documents filed with Companies House in 2020 revealed that the SNP had just £96,854 in its account in 2019.

The SNP subsequently admitted to spending only £57,000 of the money raised in donations on independence campaigning directly, leading to accusations that the remainder had been spent elsewhere, contrary to what was promised.

The matter was the subject of a police complaint by former party activist and independence campaigner Sean Clerkin in March 2021, who alleged that the money had “disappeared to be spent on other things without the permission of the donors”.

Police Scotland said it was investigating “a complaint of alleged financial irregularity”, which became a formal inquiry that summer, after consultation with prosecutors, under the codename Operation Branchform.

In the interim, SNP MP Douglas Chapman had resigned as party treasurer, claiming he had not been given complete access to the information he needed to carry out his responsibilities.

Ms Sturgeon told STV in June 2021: “I’m not concerned about the party’s finances. The finances of the SNP are independently audited... so there’s full scrutiny around that.

“Money hasn’t gone missing ... We don’t hold separate accounts, we’re under no legal requirement to do that, our accounts are managed on a cash flow basis.

Her party meanwhile pledged to “cooperate fully” with the investigation.

Mr Clerkin has since expressed frustration at the slow progress of the probe and lodged a complaint in January this year after it emerged the SNP’s leadership had still not been questioned 18 months on from its launch.

Police Scotland has since asked the Crown Office, the Scottish prosecution service, for “advice and direction” in the case.

Ms Sturgeon said on Wednesday that she will stay on as her party’s leader until a successor is chosen.

Her husband, Peter Murrell, will also stay on as the SNP’s chief executive officer, a more contentious decision given that his position means he is ultimately responsible for the party’s accounts and any discrepancies therein and because he will oversee the election process to choose his wife’s replacement as leader and first minister.

It emerged separately in August 2022 that Mr Murrell had loaned the SNP £107,620 in June 2021 to “assist with cash flow”, a point Ms Sturgeon was questioned on earlier this month and said she could not recall details about, inspiring ridicule.

SNP MP Joanna Cherry tweeted on Wednesday in response to the news that Mr Murrell would be staying on: “The SNP Leadership & party management have been deeply bound together. I cannot see any circumstances in which Peter Murrell can continue as Chief Executive under a new leader who must be free to choose a successor. Meantime we need a neutral caretaker CEO.”