Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s former first minister and as soon as considered one of Britain’s most distinguished politicians, is not being investigated over allegations of embezzlement on the Scottish Nationwide Occasion, which she led till two years in the past.
The Scottish police, in a press release, lifted a cloud that had been hanging over Ms. Sturgeon since her arrest and questioning in June 2023 plunged her get together into disaster.
Her arrest was a part of an inquiry into monetary irregularities on the S.N.P., which campaigns for Scottish independence and which has dominated the nation’s politics for a lot of the previous 20 years.
The police investigation, code-named Operation Branchform, led to costs of embezzlement towards Ms. Sturgeon’s husband, Peter Murrell, former chief government of the S.N.P. Mr. Murrell appeared in court docket in Edinburgh on these costs on Thursday however didn’t enter a plea.
In January the couple stated they’d separated and have been within the technique of ending their marriage.
Police Scotland stated in a statement on Thursday that each Ms. Sturgeon and Colin Beattie, a former treasurer of the S.N.P. who was additionally arrested in 2023, “haven’t been charged and are not below investigation.”
In keeping with commonplace British police protocol, neither Ms. Sturgeon nor Mr. Beattie have been talked about by identify within the assertion however have been known as a 54-year-old lady and a 73-year previous man. However talking to reporters exterior her house close to Glasgow, Ms. Sturgeon stated she had been instructed that, after an investigation of the proof, there could be no motion towards her.
“In different phrases, I’m fully within the clear,” she stated. “That’s the consequence I had at all times anticipated.”
Ms Sturgeon was the primary lady to guide her get together and her nation, and was the longest-serving first minister in Scottish historical past till her shock resignation in 2023. On the time her popularity was excessive, with Ms. Sturgeon famend for her formidable communications expertise, which proved significantly efficient throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
Operation Branchform was launched in 2021 and was reported to have adopted complaints concerning the dealing with of donations price about 600,000 kilos, or $780,000, raised to marketing campaign for a second vote on Scottish independence. (A referendum on the problem took place in 2014, with Scots voting to remain inside the UK by 55 % to 45 %.)
After Mr. Murrell’s arrest, Scottish information media reported that the police had seized a luxurious motor house that had been bought by the get together and was parked exterior his mom’s home.
The drama rocked the S.N.P. because it was coming to phrases with Ms. Sturgeon’s surprising resignation. Her successor, Humza Yousaf, held the submit of first minister of Scotland for little more than a year earlier than being changed by John Swinney, a celebration veteran.
Within the British general election final 12 months, the S.N.P. received 9 of the 57 seats in Scotland, a stark drop in contrast with the 48 of 59 seats it secured in 2019. Nevertheless the get together’s opinion ballot rankings recovered when the Labour authorities, led by Keir Starmer, stumbled in its first months in energy.
Earlier this month, Ms. Sturgeon introduced that she wouldn’t run in 2026 within the subsequent elections for the Scottish Parliament.
Representing Glasgow Southside as a lawmaker was “an honor past phrases,” she wrote on Instagram earlier than including: “Nevertheless, I’ve recognized in my coronary heart for some time that the time is true for me to embrace totally different alternatives in a brand new chapter of my life.”
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