Scotland’s First Minister husband resigns

EDINBURGH: The husband of Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon resigned as leader of the ruling Scottish National Party on Saturday after a dispute over the party’s membership numbers.

Peter Murrell, 58, the SNP’s chief executive, is leaving a month after Sturgeon’s surprise resignation as Scotland’s First Minister.

“Responsibility for SNP responses to media inquiries about our membership number rests with me as CEO,” Murrell said.

“While there was no intent to mislead, I accept that this was the result. I have therefore decided to reaffirm my intention to step down as CEO with immediate effect.”

Murrell’s resignation comes after the SNP’s communications chief resigned on Friday after it was revealed he had been asked to deny reports that the SNP had lost 30,000 members.

The party was forced to confirm the drop in paid support after the three candidates vying to take over Sturgeon asked Murrell to release the information.

As of Thursday, the SNP’s confirmed membership had fallen from 103,884 in 2021 to 72,186 on February 15.

Murrell has led the SNP for almost 25 years. He and Sturgeon married in Glasgow in 2010.

Sturgeon said in February that she lacks the “energy” to continue and will step down after eight years at the helm.

Gender Reform Series

Sturgeon has been Scotland’s party leader and First Minister since 2014.

She faced a major backlash after pushing through legislation allowing anyone over the age of 16 to change their gender without a medical diagnosis.

The law would have allowed a rapist – who went from a man to a woman after his conviction – to serve a prison sentence in a women-only facility.

Following the uproar over the rapist’s case, the UK government used an unprecedented veto to block the SNP’s proposed legislation.

Sturgeon had also pushed for an independence referendum for Scotland, arguing that Britain’s 2016 Brexit referendum, which led to the UK leaving the European Union, should allow Scottish opinion to be consulted again.

But the British government rejected that argument, and the UK Supreme Court sided with London in November, leaving the SNP with no apparent course to gain independence at the ballot box.

The three candidates to succeed Sturgeon are current Treasury Secretary Kate Forbes, 32, Health Secretary Humza Yousaf, 37, and Ash Regan, a 38-year-old former minister.

The new leader is scheduled to be announced on March 27th.