“Stealing the hopes, the dreams, and the aspirations of thousands of people all over Scotland, people who gave what they could over many years in the hope that it would help contribute to a better country.” Those were the words of John Swinney, the SNP leader and First Minister of Scotland at a press conference in response to Peter Murrell’s admission that he stole almost half a million pounds from the party’s coffers.
Peter Murrell, the SNP’s former chief executive and estranged husband of Nicola Sturgeon, pleaded guilty to charges of embezzlement in Edinburgh High Court on the morning of Monday 25 May 2026.
A bit of background
In 2017, a fundraiser for a second Scottish independence referendum was shut down after the result of the 2017 snap UK general election which saw the SNP take a 21 seat loss. A second fundraiser was launched in 2019. A Labour spokesperson at the time accused it of being about “motivating the base and trying to wring some cash out of them for party funds”. In January 2020, pro-independence blogger Stuart Campbell claimed that the SNP’s published accounts in 2018 did not have enough money to cover the ringfenced funds raised for independence campaigning. Later that year in October, the Electoral Commission published the SNP’s 2019 accounts but they failed to include the ringfenced independence campaign funds. Following internal resignations and a loan from Murrell to the party of £107,620 that went undeclared for more than a year, Police Scotland opened an investigation into the SNP’s finances.
In July 2021, Operation Branchform began which saw the police launch a fraud probe into the SNP, investigating potential criminality into the party’s fundraising. On 5 April 2023, one month after he resigned as SNP chief executive, police arrested Peter Murrell at his and Sturgeon’s home in Uddingston, South Lanarkshire. They also conducted a search of the home and garden, as well as the SNP headquarters in Edinburgh. Subsequent arrests were made of Colin Beattie, the party treasurer, on 18 April 2023 and of Nicola Sturgeon, former party leader and first minister, on 11 June 2023. Both were released without charge and faced no further action.
Murrell was re-arrested and charged with embezzlement yet was released from custody. He later resigned his membership of the SNP. It was revealed through court documents that Murrell used SNP cash to pay for a luxury motorhome as well as expensive watches, expensive cars and expensive furniture among other things.
At a High Court hearing on 25 May 2026, Peter Murrell pleaded guilty to the embezzlement of £400,310.65 of SNP money. He was remanded into custody and is awaiting sentencing.
Impact on the SNP
Throughout the duration of Operation Branchform, the SNP has suffered a major blow. In 2023, it was reported that the SNP had lost more than £800,000 due to the financial scandal, as well as 32,000 members. The decline in membership continued and in August 2025, it was reported that party membership had fallen to 56,011 members. Reactions across Scotland, in terms of the impact of Murrell’s guilty plea on the SNP, were mixed.
Jemma Campbell, a socialist with no party allegiance, highlighted the predicament the SNP now faces with ordinary Scottish citizens. Jemma said that for “something like this to happen is deeply disappointing and difficult to reconcile with”. She added that she’d lost trust in the SNP, saying that “a scandal like this really casts doubt in your mind about whether you can trust any of these politicians, especially ones that previously held a degree of trust and respect”. She accused the saga of being “a slap in the face to the people of Scotland”.
As far as voting intentions go, a Find Out Now poll which conducted a UK-wide poll with a Scottish sub-sample for the next general election two days after Murrell’s guilty plea showed that the SNP were still ahead on 38% with a 19% lead over Reform UK. The poll should be treated with caution, however, as the sample is very small and has a statistical margin for error of over 10%. No polls for a Holyrood voting intention were found at the time of writing.
The future of the independence movement
Former SNP member and MP for Edinburgh South West, Joanna Cherry, said that “the real victims are the supporters of Scottish independence”. But what exactly do Murrell’s actions mean for Scotland’s constitutional future?
Jemma spoke of being “conflicted” about voting SNP, saying that they uphold many capitalist and neoliberal policies that she, as a socialist, is fundamentally against but votes for them anyway for tactical reasons but also because “they are the best chance at gaining independence”. For independence supporters to lose trust in the SNP is a potential disaster as it could mean a loss of pro-independence support in the Scottish Parliament. That said, the pro-independence Scottish Greens rose to their highest ever total with 15 MSPs at the last election and can pick up where John Swinney’s party falls short. At the time of writing, MSPs endorsed a call for the UK Government to agree to a second Scottish independence referendum. It has since been rejected by the UK Government.
Also, at the time of writing, no polls on Scottish independence have been published since Murrell’s guilty plea.
A massive sum of money, a huge betrayal of trust and one of the biggest scandals in Scottish politics since devolution began in 1999. Peter Murrell’s actions have had a terrible effect on the SNP as people are questioning the trustworthiness of the party. The effect, however, may not be apocalyptic as early polls still show strong support for the SNP. But one way or another, the actions of Peter Murrell have left a serious scar on the SNP which will take a lot of time and work to heal.
Multiple SNP sources were approached for comment.
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