London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, May 29, 2026

SNP still owes money to Peter Murrell, Humza Yousaf confirms

SNP still owes money to Peter Murrell, Humza Yousaf confirms

The SNP still owes money to its former chief executive Peter Murrell, First Minister Humza Yousaf has confirmed.

Mr Murrell, who is married to Nicola Sturgeon, gave the party a loan of £107,620 in June 2021.

The SNP had repaid about half of the money by October of that year.

When asked whether the party still owed him money, Mr Yousaf told journalists: "I think there is money still absolutely outstanding to Peter Murrell in terms of the repayment of the loan."

The first minister said he would lay out details of how much is owed after a review into the party's governance takes place.

Mr Murrell, who has been married to Ms Sturgeon since 2010, was in charge of running the party organisation for more than 20 years until he resigned last month.

He was arrested by police at the start of April over an investigation into SNP finances and questioned by detectives for 11 hours before being released without charge pending further investigation.

Police launched a formal investigation into the party's finances in July 2021 after receiving complaints about how donations made for an independence referendum campaign had been used.

The SNP raised £666,953 through appeals between 2017 and 2020 with a pledge to spend these funds on a future campaign.

Questions were raised after its accounts showed it had just under £97,000 in the bank at the end of 2019, and total net assets of about £272,000.

Former chief executive of the SNP, Peter Murrell returning to his home in Glasgow. on Thursday


Last year it emerged Mr Murrell gave a loan of £107,620 to the SNP to help it out with a "cash flow" issue in June 2021, the month after the Scottish Parliament election.

The party had repaid about half of the money by October of that year.

Earlier on Thursday, Mr Murrell was seen in public for the first time since his arrest when he was spotted leaving the home he shares with Ms Sturgeon near Glasgow. Ms Sturgeon was seen later in the day also leaving the property.

Police spent two days searching the house earlier this month.

Ms Sturgeon has previously said she cannot recall when she first learned that her husband had loaned a six-figure sum of money to the party she led for more than eight years.

She added: "The resources that he lent to the party were resources that belonged to him."

On the same day as Mr Murrell was arrested, a motorhome was seized by police, which The Mail on Sunday reported had been sitting outside the Dunfermline home of Mr Murrell's 92-year-old mother since being delivered there in 2021.

The SNP has claimed that it was bought to potentially be used as a "campaign battle bus" ahead of the last Scottish Parliament election but was never used.

Ms Sturgeon's successor, Humza Yousaf, has previously said he was unaware that the party had bought the motorhome until he became party leader last month.

The motorhome was seized by police


On Wednesday, Colin Beattie resigned as SNP treasurer after his arrest the previous day as part of the police investigation. He was also subsequently released without charge pending further inquiries.

Mr Yousaf responded to questions about the SNP's finances by saying: "We are definitely not facing bankruptcy, I'm pleased to say we are on a steady footing when it comes to the party's finances.

"I don't think parliament is the place to do a statement on the party's finances.

"I've, of course, instructed the governance and transparency review and when the report comes in on that review, I'll make that public."

He has resisted calls for Ms Sturgeon, Mr Murrell and Mr Beattie to be suspended from the SNP while the police investigation is ongoing.

During First Minister's Questions, Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross called on Mr Yousaf to make a statement to Holyrood on the SNP's finances.

He said there are "legitimate questions that the Scottish public deserves the answer to".

Mr Yousaf did not respond in the chamber to the calls for a statement, but told MSPs there are "serious issues" relating to the party which he will not "shy away from".

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Japanese Technology Firm Fujitsu Launches Advanced Artificial Intelligence Tool for Corporate Disclosures
South Africa Officially Launches Nationwide Campaign for Highly Contested Local Government Elections
United Kingdom Commits Additional Funding for Unexploded Ordnance Clearance in Laos
Singapore Announces Stringent New Greenhouse Gas Regulations for Commercial Cooling Systems
Cambodia and Thailand Hold High-Level Border Security Talks at United Nations Headquarters
Myanmar Military Government and China Sign Major Agreement to Upgrade Media and Cultural Cooperation
Knife Attack at Swiss Train Station Leaves Three Injured in Suspected Act of Domestic Terrorism
Transnational Extortion Gang Threatens Canadian Police With Army of One Thousand Armed Operatives
Australia Imposes Forty-Two-Day Quarantine on Cruise Ship Passengers Following Deadly Hantavirus Outbreak
International Monetary Fund Unlocks Seven Hundred Million United States Dollars for Sri Lanka Following Economic Reforms
Australia Launches Record One Point Four Billion Dollar Lawsuit Against Chemical Giant 3M Over Contamination
China and Canada Foreign Ministers Meet in Ottawa in Effort to Stabilize Strained Diplomatic Ties
Indonesia Demands Urgent United Nations Security Council Reform Amid Escalating Global Conflicts
Extreme Weather Patterns Trigger Severe Drought in Madagascar and Destructive Flooding in East Africa
Indian State of Karnataka Faces Political Upheaval as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Abruptly Resigns
Philippines and Japan Reaffirm Defense Ties as Crucial for Indo-Pacific Regional Stability
Norway Joins French Nuclear Deterrence Initiative in Major Shift for European Security Architecture
Global Critical Mineral Alliances Expand as Western Nations Move to Counter Chinese Supply Dominance
United States Imposes Fifty Percent Tariffs on Mexican Steel and Aluminum Ahead of Trade Pact Review
European Union and China Head Toward Major Trade Conflict Over Clean Technology Exports
United States Economic Growth Severely Downgraded to One Point Six Percent as Stagflation Fears Mount
World Health Organization Warns Central African Ebola Epidemic is Outpacing Containment Efforts
United States Treasury Department Conditions Sanctions Relief on Reopening of the Strait of Hormuz
Iranian Air Defenses Intercept and Destroy United States Military Drone Over Bushehr Province
Iranian Armed Forces Launch Ballistic Missiles Toward Unspecified Targets Prompting Regional Condemnation
United Nations Secretary-General Warns Global Order Facing Highest Level of Conflict Since 1945
Israel Issues Sweeping Evacuation Orders in Southern Lebanon Amid Intensified Hezbollah Conflict
Russia Announces Systemic Military Strikes Targeting Ukrainian Defense and Energy Infrastructure
United States and Iranian Negotiators Reach Draft Agreement to Extend Ceasefire and Resume Nuclear Talks
United Nations Security Council Deeply Divided Over United States Capture of Venezuelan President
US and Iran Exchange Direct Military Strikes Amid Fragile Gulf Ceasefire
World Health Organization Warns of Catastrophic Ebola Outbreak in DR Congo
Russia Threatens New Wave of Strikes on Ukrainian Infrastructure and Embassies
Scientists Warn Atlantic Ocean Currents Could Collapse Faster Than Projected
Anthropic Reaches $900 Billion Valuation in Historic AI Funding Round
Washington Imposes Crippling Sanctions on Iranian Maritime Authority
Japan and the Philippines Initiate Strategic Intelligence-Sharing Pact
Microsoft Deploys Autonomous Computer-Using AI Agents to Global Markets
Anthropic Secures $45 Billion Compute Infrastructure Agreement With SpaceX
U.S. Director of National Intelligence Resigns Amid Administration Shakeup
Micron Technology Crosses Trillion-Dollar Valuation Amid Unprecedented Hardware Demand
Canada and Germany Finalize Historic Long-Term LNG Export Agreement
China Expands International Travel Restrictions on Domestic AI Researchers
Japan Approves Sweeping Overhaul of National Intelligence Apparatus
Global Airlines Scramble Logistics as Middle East Airspace Remains Fractured
Japan's Naphtha Imports Plunge 47 Percent Amid Strait of Hormuz Closure
Global Crude Prices Retreat Below $96 as Gulf Tensions Momentarily Ease
Generative AI Outperforms Human Baselines in Landmark Global Creativity Study
NASA Partners With Private Aerospace to Unveil Permanent Lunar Base Architecture
South Korean Equity Markets Surge on Next-Generation Memory Chip Frenzy
×