Senior SNP politicians are seeking to distance Nicola Sturgeon from the campaign for Scottish independence following her husband’s sensational arrest.
Officers raided the home she shares with former party chief executive Peter Murrell on Wednesday, along with the SNP’s headquarters in Edinburgh.
Mr Murrell was arrested and then released without charge later the same day in connection with a probe into party finances.
On Thursday, First Minister Humza Yousaf, who was portrayed as the continuity candidate during the race to succeed Ms Sturgeon, publicly raised doubts over the way the party was governed by her and Mr Murrell.
SNP insider on ‘deity’ Nicola Sturgeon
We can now reveal other SNP figures are seeking to distance the wider independence movement from the brand of the duo once regarded as the most powerful couple in Scottish politics.
One current SNP MP claimed the former first minister acted “like a deity”.
Speaking of the way the party was being run, the MP said: “I just don’t know enough. Nobody does.
“So much of this was run on trust and treating somebody like a deity.”
The MP claimed Ms Sturgeon was personally angry at being challenged, making others want to stay quiet.
“If Nicola told you the sky was green and the grass was blue, some people were ready to believe it,” the MP continued.
An SNP source responded to the allegations by saying: “No one who knows Nicola Sturgeon would recognise this in any way, shape or form.”
In further interviews with the Press and Journal, SNP figures indicated they want to unhitch the former leadership from the campaign for independence.
‘Bump in the road’
MSP Jim Fairlie said that while the party is going through “a bit of turmoil at the moment”, the idea of Scotland becoming an independent country “isn’t going to change on the basis of whatever happens to Peter Murrell”.
Asked whether he was concerned about the impact the arrest could have at the ballot box, Mr Fairlie – an MSP in Perthshire – said: “The honest truth right now is that no, I’m not worried.
“What Humza said is right enough, it’s not a good look for the party.
“We could have done without it but it is what it is.
“The most important thing from my point of view is that this isn’t going to do any damage whatsoever to the desire for people to have independence.
“This is a bump in the road. We’ll get over this same as we get over every other bump in the road.
“It goes back to the fundamental position that nobody but nobody is bigger than the idea of Scottish independence.”
‘Independence will remain strong’
Western Isles MP Angus Brendan MacNeil said that “regardless of the SNP or those who run it, independence will remain strong”.
But he called for answers over the way the SNP leadership race was managed by Mr Murrell before his resignation over withholding the truth about the party’s real number of members, which was overstated by 30,000.
The row directly led to Mr Murrell’s downfall, weeks before his arrest in connection with the finance probe.
SNP vote complaints
Mr MacNeil is among those who wanted the option to change votes in the leadership contest, which Mr Yousaf won against Kate Forbes and Ash Regan last month.
“The thing that should have been done so we have no questions over this would have been to enable the membership to change their votes when we knew they were lying about the 30,000 extra members,” he said.
“The question is who at SNP HQ gave strict instructions not to reopen the ballot.
“They said they had the possibility of doing that and they were quite happy to do it if instructed but somebody in the SNP said no.”
Suggestions police gave prior indication to the leadership about Wednesday’s arrest were firmly rejected by Mr Yousaf.
‘Not in cahoots with police’
Speaking on Thursday, the first minister said: “To me that sounds like a conspiracy theory that somehow we were in cahoots with Police Scotland around the timing.
“The timing of any investigation is absolutely for Police Scotland, it’s not determined by anybody else.”
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn says colleagues making that suggestion need to provide evidence.
Mr Flynn, MP for Aberdeen South, told us: “There is no doubt that this is a tough time for the party.
“We need to make sure the public can still trust us.
“This will require reform of our party processes and transparency.
“Humza Yousaf has been clear about that during the leadership contest and he has my full support on this issue.”
Meanwhile, another SNP called on the party to “get to work” to rebuild trust.
He said: “I think any party would rather this wasn’t happening.
“I’m sure the Tories would much rather that Sunak and Johnson weren’t served with fixed penalty notices, for example.
“Self evidently parties would rather this kind of thing didn’t occur.”
The MP added: “I think Humza is right. The party needs to get to work now.
“With positive vision, good governance, all the things he’s spoken about in the past couple of days.
“I think if we do that we would put ourselves in a very good position.”
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