Today marks one year since police arrested Nicola Sturgeon’s husband and searched the couple’s home as part of an ongoing probe into the SNP’s funding and finances.
Peter Murrell, the SNP’s former chief executive, was arrested and released without charge on 5 April 2023.
Almost two weeks later, ex-party treasurer MSP Colin Beattie was arrested and released.
And then on 11 June 2023, all eyes were on Scotland when former first minister and SNP leader Ms Sturgeon was also arrested and released without charge as part of the probe.
The police inquiry – dubbed Operation Branchform – has been ongoing since July 2021.
On Thursday when asked for an update, Police Scotland told Sky News it was “unable to comment” as the investigation remains ongoing.
The SNP previously said it was “cooperating fully” with the probe and would continue to do so. A spokesperson said: “In the last year the first minister has been focused on the priorities of people across Scotland – including delivering a national council tax freeze to support households with Westminster’s cost of living crisis and game-changing policies which are estimated to lift 100,000 children out of poverty.
“While the Westminster parties fail to offer anything other than more of the same broken Brexit Britain, the SNP is the only party providing hope for a better future for Scotland with independence.”
Here is what we know so far:
May 2021: Douglas Chapman MP resigns as SNP treasurer, claiming he had not been given enough information to do his job. Joanna Cherry, a vocal internal critic of the party’s leadership, also resigns from her role on the ruling National Executive Committee (NEC).
July 2021: Police Scotland launches Operation Branchform into the SNP’s funding and finances. The long-running inquiry is linked to the spending of around £600,000 raised by supporters to be earmarked for Scottish independence campaigning. It is understood there have been complaints the ringfenced cash has been used improperly by being spent elsewhere.
Former SNP treasurer Colin Beattie. Pic: PA
August 2021: As the party’s annual accounts were published, then treasurer Mr Beattie acknowledged there had been “concern” about transparency over independence-related appeals that had raised more than £600,000. In a section of the accounts, he said that £666,953 had been raised since 2017 up to the end of 2021, with a total of £51,760 expenditure applied to this income. The money was “earmarked” through internal processes, he said, though the accounts did not officially record a separate sum.
December 2022: It emerges that Mr Murrell, then chief executive of the SNP, loaned the party £100,000 in June 2021. The SNP said this was to help with a “cash flow” issue after the election that year. Ms Sturgeon said: “The resources that he lent the party were resources that belonged to him.”
February 2023: Ms Sturgeon announces her resignation as SNP leader and first minister. She denied the decision was linked to recent pressures, including a public outcry over the Isla Bryson case, and said: “In my head and in my heart, I know that time is now.”
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Ms Sturgeon announced her resignation last February
March 2023: Mr Murrell steps down as SNP chief executive after more than 20 years in the role. His resignation came amid the party leadership contest to replace his wife after it was revealed SNP membership numbers had dropped by around 30,000 since 2021. The SNP previously called the reports “both malicious and wholly inaccurate”. Shouldering the blame for the party’s responses to the media over membership numbers, Mr Murrell admitted: “While there was no intent to mislead, I accept that this has been the outcome.” Murray Foote, the SNP’s then head of communications, also resigned over the incident. Mr Foote is now the SNP’s chief executive, having been appointed in August last year. During an interview with Sky News, Ms Sturgeon tells Beth Rigby that she has not heard whether police want to interview her or her husband as part of Operation Branchform. Ms Sturgeon declines to comment on the ongoing investigation.
Ms Sturgeon and husband Mr Murrell. Pic: PA
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‘Investigation played no part in my resignation’
April 2023: Mr Murrell and Mr Beattie are both arrested and released without charge amid the police probe into the SNP’s funding and finances. Mr Murrell’s arrest led to a police search of his home with Ms Sturgeon, with officers erecting a blue forensics tent outside of the property. The SNP’s headquarters in Edinburgh was also searched, and a camper van, thought to be worth around £110,000, was seized from outside the Fife home of Mr Murrell’s mother. New First Minister Humza Yousaf tells Sky News he was unaware the party owned a motorhome until he became SNP leader a few weeks before. As Mr Beattie steps down as party treasurer, he says it would be “inappropriate” to comment on a live case but would “cooperate fully” with the police enquiry. Stuart McDonald is announced as the SNP’s new treasurer. The MP admits it’s a “difficult and challenging time” for the party.
Police Scotland officers searched Ms Sturgeon and Mr Murrell’s home. Pic: PA
Police also searched the SNP headquarters in Edinburgh. Pic: PA
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Sturgeon: Last few weeks ‘very difficult’
May 2023: AMS Accountant Group is announced as the SNP’s new auditor. It came after previous auditor, Johnston Carmichael, stood down in September 2022 following a review of its client portfolio. Mr Yousaf admitted he was unaware of the situation until becoming party leader in March. The party was subsequently able to file accounts before a crucial deadline which could have seen the Westminster group miss out on £1.2m worth of funding.
June 2023: Ms Sturgeon is arrested and released without charge. The Glasgow Southside MSP “voluntarily” arranged with Police Scotland to be questioned as part of the investigation into the party’s finances, a spokesperson said. Upon returning to Holyrood, she said: “The thing that sustains me right now is the certainty that I have done nothing wrong.”
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July 2023: Then Police Scotland Chief Constable Sir Iain Livingstone says Operation Branchform has “moved beyond what some of the initial reports were”. Sir Iain said he would not put an “absolute timeframe” on the length of the investigation, but that it would be “proportionate and timeous”.
October 2023: Scottish Labour trounced the SNP in the battle for former MP Margaret Ferrier’s Rutherglen and Hamilton West seat. Ms Ferrier, who had the SNP whip removed for breaching COVID rules during lockdown, was ousted from Westminster following a successful recall petition. Michael Shanks defeated Katy Loudon by 17,845 votes to 8,399 – a majority of 9,446 and a 20.36% swing from SNP to Scottish Labour. Mr Yousaf admitted the investigation into the party’s finances, along with the “reckless” actions of Ms Ferrier, played a part in the result. He said the party would “regroup” and come back stronger.
April 2024: A YouGov survey of 18,761 UK adults has projected that the SNP could drop from 48 to 19 seats after the next general election. The poll – using the multi-level modelling and post-stratification (MRP) method of projecting – showed Scottish Labour sweeping to victory north of the border with 28 seats – up from the single constituency won in 2019. However, an earlier MRP poll, conducted by Survation and published at the weekend, put the SNP on 41 seats in Scotland. Ahead of the one-year anniversary of Mr Murrell’s arrest, Mr Yousaf told BBC Scotland “all of us in the SNP would like to see a conclusion to Operation Branchform”. But the first minister said it was for Police Scotland “to take as much time as they require in order to investigate thoroughly”. He later stated: “No one is going to interfere in that investigation. Police investigations should be allowed to take place without any political interference whatsoever.”
