Nicola Sturgeon today announced she is ending her marriage to former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell.
The former first minister of Scotland disclosed that she and Mr. Murrell, who tied the knot in 2010, had been ‘separated for an extended period’ as she shared the news ‘with a sense of sadness’.
Ms. Sturgeon, aged 54, and Mr. Murrell, aged 60, were prominent figures in the SNP and Scottish political scene until she stepped down as the first minister and party leader in March 2023.
Her resignation occurred shortly before both she and her spouse were taken into custody in connection with Police Scotland’s Operation Branchform investigation into the SNP’s financial affairs.
Among the 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.
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.
In 2019, the then-first minister praised her husband’s ability to ‘de-stress’ her as she made a risqué joke on TV.
Asked on ITV’s Loose Women how she liked to unwind, Ms Sturgeon replied: ‘Well… it’s a daytime show. I like reading books. That’s a safe answer in this context.
‘Peter, yeah, he can de-stress me from time to time.’
In September last year, Ms Sturgeon strongly denied her marriage was on the rocks amid the strain of the police investigation.
‘We’re still married and we will be married for a long time to come,’ she told TV presenter and former Tory MP Gyles Brandreth on a podcast.
She also spoke of her ongoing sense of loss after the miscarriage she suffered while serving as deputy first minister.
‘I had a miscarriage in 2010,’ she said. ‘I didn’t speak about it at the time but a few years later I spoke about the miscarriage.
‘Because for a woman in politics who doesn’t have children, you get asked that question a lot.’
In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Ms Sturgeon admitted being married to the SNP’s chief executive meant politics had been ‘all-consuming for a long, long time’.
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.’
Ms Sturgeon was replaced as SNP leader and first minister by Humza Yousaf, but he quit after little more than a year.
Mr Yousaf’s replacement, SNP veteran John Swinney, oversaw a devastating general election result for the party in July last year.
The SNP shed 39 constituencies from the number they won under Ms Sturgeon in 2019, with the nationalists now holding only nine seats in the House of Commons.
