Nicola Sturgeon: I feel as if I’m serving a sentence for a crime I did not commit
Sturgeon says she refuses to apologise for her ex-husband’s embezzlement conviction, saying she is being blamed for a crime she did not commit.
Intelligence analysis by GPT-5.4 Mini
Nicola Sturgeon says Peter Murrell’s guilty plea for embezzling SNP funds has left her feeling punished for his wrongdoing. She argues she should answer for her own actions, not be blamed for crimes she says she did not commit.
Nicola Sturgeon used to lead Scotland. Her ex-husband admitted taking a lot of money from the political party they were both linked to.
She says she did not do the crime, so she should not have to say sorry for it. It is a bit like being blamed because a family member broke a window.
The story matters because it has caused trouble for her old party and has people asking hard questions about how its money was handled.
Analysis
What happened
Former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon said she feels like she is being punished for a crime she did not commit after her former husband and former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell admitted embezzling more than £400,000 from the party.
Murrell pleaded guilty to taking party money between 2010 and 2022 and using it for a lavish personal lifestyle, including a luxury motor home, a Jaguar SUV, a VW Golf, cosmetics, iPads and an expensive salt-and-pepper set. He is due to be sentenced in June.
Sturgeon’s response
In an interview on BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Sturgeon said she would not apologise for “somebody else’s crimes”. She drew a line between personal accountability and responsibility for Murrell’s actions, saying she will answer for her own decisions but not for offences she says she had no part in.
She said she has consistently denied knowing about the embezzlement and was not charged after a police investigation. Sturgeon also repeated her view that she had been “completely cleared and exonerated” by police and said Murrell had lied to her.
Wider political fallout
The story remains politically sensitive for the SNP, which has faced calls for an independent inquiry into its finances. The timing also matters because the party faces two UK parliamentary by-elections in June, in Aberdeen South and in Arbroath and Broughty Ferry.
Sturgeon, who led Scotland from 2014 to 2023, is trying to separate her own record from the scandal while staying visible in public life. Her comments at the Hay festival suggest she sees the public scrutiny as unfair and is determined not to retreat from view.
Key points
- Peter Murrell admitted embezzling more than £400,000 from the SNP.
- Sturgeon says she will not apologise for her ex-husband’s crimes.
- She says police did not charge her and she was cleared by investigators.
- The SNP is facing pressure over its finances and upcoming by-elections.
