Former First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon has said that she and her husband intend to separate. In a shocking announcement posted to Instagram, Sturgeon said that she and Peter Murrell “have decided to end our marriage”.
Sturgeon and Murrell, the former chief executive of the Scottish National Party, married in 2010. In the post Sturgeon said that she made the announcement “with a heavy heart”, but added that “to all intents and purposes we have been separated for some time now”.
In a post on Instagram, 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.
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“It goes without saying that we still care deeply for each other, and always will. We will be making no further comment.”
After serving as First Minister of Scotland between 2014 and 2023, Sturgeon stepped down from the role following a scandal about the party’s finances involving a police investigation. She denied that her decision to step down was influenced by the investigation.
Murrell was later arrested and would go on to be charged in 2024 over alleged embezzling of donations made to the SNP. In June 2023 Sturgeon was also arrested, and remains under investigation, but has not been charged and has denied any wrongdoing relating to the SNP’s finances.
Sturgeon has denied any wrongdoing in relation to SNP finances -Credit:PA
The two-year-long police investigation, which has been named Operation Branchform, has now been investigating how £660,000 of donations to the SNP were spent. A luxury campervan worth £110,000 was seized from outside Mr Murrell’s mother’s home during the investigation.
It is understood that the vehicle had been set aside for the 2021 Holyrood election campaign. However it was never used due to Covid restrictions being lifted.