Nicola Sturgeon ends marriage to former SNP boss Peter Murrell

13 January 2025, 11:42 | Updated: 13 January 2025, 13:06

Nicola Sturgeon and her husband Peter Murrell have ended their marriage after being "separate for some time".

In a post on her Instagram, the former First Minister of Scotland "confirmed" the pair had "decided to end our marriage".

The couple got married in 2010, but in her post Nicola Sturgeon revealed that they had privately split some time ago.

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Once seen as a political power couple when they both had the top jobs in the SNP, there had been growing speculation they had separated.

Neither had been seen at their house on the outskirts of Glasgow for some time, and she is believed to have moved to a flat in Edinburgh's New Town.

She has also been posting photographs from social events she has attended in recent months, but Peter Murrell never featured.

Their relationship has been under extreme pressure as a result of the Police Scotland investigation Operation Branchform into the SNP's finances. Murrell, who was the party's chief executive for 20 years, has been charged with alleged embezzlement, but the Crown Office is yet to decide if a prosecution will go ahead.

The police inquiry is also still ongoing, almost four years since it began.

In her post, Nicola Sturgeon wrote: "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."

The announcement comes 16 months after she said in an interview "we will be married for a long time to come."

Nicola Sturgeon, who still sits as an SNP MSP in Holyrood, has also been questioned by police in connection with Operation Branchform, as has the then SNP treasurer, Colin Beattie.

In December, Ms Sturgeon said she knows "nothing more" about the investigation than she did when arrested and she was “getting on with my life as best I can."

She has also insisted that “beyond doubt” she was “innocent of any wrongdoing”.

The couple first met back in 1988 when she was just 18 years old at an SNP youth event and they officially became a couple in 2003. They got married seven years later in July 2010 at Oran Mor in Glasgow.

When she became party leader in 2014, she dismissed any suggestion her husband should stand aside from his role, despite internal concerns from some in the SNP.

An SNP source said at the time: "It's not ideal, especially looked at from outside. The perception is that it's a bit incestuous, that too much power is in the one household."

But he said there was no conflict of interest. "In the constitution of the SNP, the oversight of the administrative side of the party lies with the business convener, not with the leader. So I'm comfortable there are no issues that arise."