'I believe Nicola Sturgeon did NOT know. But then, I was very wrong about Peter Murrell,' says former SNP chief executive

By CLAIRE ELLIOT, SCOTTISH GENERAL NEWS REPORTER Published: 20:20, 28 May 2026 | Updated: 20:24, 28 May 2026 The man who took over from disgraced Peter Murrell has said it is ‘perfectly reasonable’ to believe Nicola Sturgeon knew about his deceit. Murray Foote stepped into Murrell’s shoes as chief executive after he resigned in 2023, two years before his predecessor and the former First Minister split. That was after Mr Foote himself resigned as the party’s media chief after false denials of a drop in membership were shared with the press. Now the 59-year-old, who stood down as chief executive in 2024 after the party’s poor performance in the UK general election, has conceded he cannot be certain that Ms Sturgeon did not know about her husband’s swindling, admitting he was ‘very wrong about Peter Murrell.’ He said: ‘I think it’s perfectly reasonable to believe she did. I also think it’s perfectly reasonable to believe she didn’t.’ Writing in the Courier newspaper, Mr Foote, who was among those in the SNP camp who described the initial fraud allegations back in 2021 as ‘spurious’, said: ‘Murrell never gave colleagues cause to believe he was anything other than dedicated to the SNP, the cause of independence and his First Minister wife.’ Nicola Sturgeon and Murray Foote look out from Bute House back in 2020 He said he even ‘evaded detection by duping the party’s then-auditors, who were paid to dig deep but apparently took at face value Murrell’s explanations for any financial anomalies.’ Having been fooled before, however, he was not willing to entirely dismiss that Ms Sturgeon was just another ‘unwitting victim’.‘  He added: Those in the “of course she knew” camp will argue it was impossible for her not to notice... the jewellery, the Montblanc pens, the Lalique pepper pot, the robo-lawnmower, the £90k [sic] Jag. ‘Of course, she noticed them. She wore the jewellery, signed documents with a Montblanc, cracked pepper on her soup, was driven in the Jag and probably dodged the robo-mower in the garden. ‘What is relevant here is if she had either the time or inclination to ask Peter how they were financed.’ Ms Sturgeon has repeatedly denied any knowledge of her husband’s illegal spending spree. Mr Foote said he found it ‘implausible she would jeopardise everything by covering for her husband on the take for 12 years’, adding: ‘It doesn’t make sense’. ‘Personally, I believe she did not know. But then, I was very wrong about Peter Murrell.’ Ms Sturgeon’s lawyer Aamer Anwar has said that had there been any evidence of criminality against her, ‘this gold-plated investigation would have led to Ms Sturgeon being charged and prosecuted’. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.