Nicola Sturgeon says estranged husband Peter Murrell’s crimes put her ‘in considerable peril'

Nicola Sturgeon has said the last week has “surpassed” other tough weeks in her personal and professional life.

She was introduced at the Hay Festival in Wales by journalist Francine Stock as going through “the worst week of her life”, paraphrasing the former Scottish first minister’s comments yesterday at Ireland's Listowel Writers' Week Literary Festival.

Ms Sturgeon opened by saying "it's a pleasure to be here notwithstanding that”, adding: “It’s also (my) first time in Plaid Cymru-governed Wales, so allow me to indulge that little bit of pleasure.”

She described the events following her estranged husband Peter Murrell’s guilty plea to embezzling £400,000 from Scottish National Party funds as a “deeply painful thing personally”.

Ms Sturgeon told the live audience: “I’m only in the foothills of coming to terms with the fact that the person I was married to for a long time was somebody I clearly didn’t know as well as I thought I did.

“Somebody who misled me, deceived me, lied to me and put me in considerable peril.”

Speaking at the festival about her memoir, Frankly, which was released in 2025, Ms Sturgeon described being touched by contact from women who have lived through experiences where “a husband has betrayed them and shown some solidarity”.

She described the “excruciating” two-year Police Scotland investigation, at the end of which she was “cleared and exonerated of doing any wrongdoing”, although the past week has seen a sharp uptick in people “pointing the finger of suspicion” at her.

Ms Sturgeon was informed by officers she would face no further investigation as part of Operation Branchform into the SNP's missing finances and has consistently pleaded her innocence.

After the full list of items Mr Murrell was suspected of purchasing with SNP funds was unveiled, photographs of Ms Sturgeon holding or wearing those items materialised.

“I think my picture has been on more front pages in Scotland this week than my former husband’s has,” she said. "And I don’t think that’s right.”

Despite the mounting pressure on her, she insisted much of the outcry is based on the presumption she was aware of everything Murrell purchased during that period.

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In Monday’s papers, she recalled reading about items she had never heard of or seen before, stating: “I don’t know who they were bought for or where they were, but nothing.

"Those things I was aware of, nothing made me think they were things he couldn’t have afforded: we were on high salaries; we didn’t have kids; and I was First Minister, so I was working round the clock, and I wasn’t at home that much.

“So there was nothing that would have aroused my suspicion."

Adamant she has done nothing wrong, Ms Sturgeon told attendees she refused to hide away, and that was why she was not going to miss a stage appearance with Ms Stock.

However, Ms Sturgeon became defensive when the journalist pointed to the “fundamental contradiction" of comparing the last week to the publicity Ms Sturgeon was keen to seek during her tenure as the leader of the Scottish Government for eight years.

She hit back, commenting: "Because I’ve lived my life in the public eye trying to pursue a life of public service – which I’ve done, and I’ve had my ups and downs and made more than my fair share of mistakes, I know, but I don’t think that somehow justifies suddenly finding myself – by some people, not by everyone, not by a long shot – vilified for the actions of others.”

Having gone through a similar discussion in Ireland on Thursday, Ms Sturgeon described talking about the week’s events as “like a therapy session"; however, she intends to talk more about it in the days and weeks to come "because I want to openly answer any questions people have of me because I have done nothing wrong".

No longer in a seat of power, Ms Sturgeon still has the gift of bringing the constitution into the spotlight.

At a time when the devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are governed by three nationalist parties, Ms Sturgeon discussed the “inequality” of UK decision-making on account of England being significantly larger in population.

She said: “Right now, the way the UK is structured, the decision-making is so asymmetrical because England is so much bigger than the other three countries."

Ms Sturgeon used Brexit as an example – where every Scottish region voted “overwhelmingly not to leave the European Union", but got outvoted because England voted and Wales narrowly voted to leave in 2016.

She added: “So I think a relationship of equality would actually be healthier and probably improve the relationships between the four countries, and I think that’s a good thing... and time will tell if I’m right or wrong.”

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