Spectacular implosion of the SNP

● New humiliation for nationalism’s f irst couple as Murrell is forced to quit ● SNP in chaos over membership ‘lies’ after MoS exposé ● Police STILL probing riddle of ‘missing’ £600,000

THE SNP sensationally imploded last night after party chief executive Peter Murrell was forced to quit – just weeks after his wife, Nicola Sturgeon, announced her shock resignation as First Minister. The downfall of Scotland’s foremost political power couple followed revelations in The Mail on Sunday that the SNP had lied about its true membership numbers ahead of the leadership race. Critics feared the bogus numbers were being used by the SNP ‘party machine’ to inflate support for Humza Yousaf, seen as the establishment’s preferred candidate to take over as First Minister. Yesterday, in a statement announcing his immediate resignation, Mr Murrell admitted he was responsible for the ‘misleading’ claims about membership figures – which the party had repeatedly said stood at around 100,000, but were actually around 72,000. His bombshell departure comes amid a continuing police probe into how independence campaign donations have been handled and questions over why he made a personal donation of £107,000 to the party amid a cash crisis. Last night commentators said it was the final nail in the coffin for the embattled S cottish n ationalist m ovement. Pamela Nash, chief executive of Scotland in Union, said: ‘The party of government is imploding, guilty of cover- up and lying to the Scottish p eople. ‘Murrell’s resignation, along with other senior figure si nth eS NP , shows that theNationalists are no longer fit to govern .’ Scottish C onservative c hairman C raig H oy said: ‘A fish rots from the head down – and the same applies to the SN P. ‘Peter M urrell’s resignation is long over due but there remain serious questions for him to answer, n ot l east o ver t he “ missing” £ 600,000 from p arty a ccounts. ‘The b rutal, s hambolic S NP l eadership e lection appears to have been the tipping point that’s forced the First Minister’s husband to quit before he was pushed .’ Also, in a day of dramatic developments: ● Leadership hopeful Kate Forbes called on SNP members who had not yet voted to choose ‘change’ and vote for her in light of the t umultuous M urrell r evelations; ● Insiders suggested she would clear out SNP top brass who had shored up the chief executive if she becomes First Minister; ● Party bigwig Mike Russell took over as interim c hief e xecutive. The MoS exclusively revealed last week that nearly 50,000 members had abandoned the SNP in the past three years, with around 30,000 s ince 2 021. Speculation had been growing that SNP membership under Ms Sturgeon’ s leadership had plummeted since February, when a Scottish newspaper said paid-up members had dropped to around 7 0,000. The claims were dismissed as ‘drivel’ by the SNP’s head of media, Murray Foote. However, last w eek, t he M oS c onfirmed t he SNP h ad l ied o ver t he i ssue. Our reporters approached the private company in charge of running the SNP leadership b allot, Mi-Voice, to secure the true f igures. A source at the Southampton-based polling firm said it had received the names of only around three-quarters of the 104,000 members touted by the SN P. The news sent shockwaves across Scotland, with many c oncerned about the risk of e lection r igging, g iven t he o paque nature of the contest. Leadership candidates Ms Forbes a nd A sh R egan p ressured party HQ over the figures until eventually, on Thursday, the SN P admitted membership as of February 15 this year was 72,186, down from 103,884 in 2021. Mr F oote r esigned f rom h is p ost on Friday, saying he had been misled by SN P headquarters. Rumours s wirled y esterday t hat the party’s ruling body, the national executive committee, was set to launch a vote of no confidence in Mr M urrell. However, Mr M urrell conceded his 24 years in office had come to an end and, rather than face a cripplingly embarrassing vote, decided to leave the party rudder party less. He said: ‘Responsibility for the SNP’s responses to media queries about our membership number lies with me as chief executive. While there was no intent to mislead, I accept that this h as b een t he o utcome. ‘I have therefore decided to confirm my intention to step down as chief executive with immediate e ffect.’ He added: ‘I had not planned to confirm this decision until after the l eadership e lection. H owever, as my future has become a d istraction from the campaign, I have concluded that I should stand d own n ow. ‘I am very proud of what has been a chieved i n m y t ime a s c hief executive and of the part I have played in securing the electoral success the party has enjoyed over a lmost t wo d ecades.’ Ms Forbes has now written to those s till t o v ote i n t he S NP l eadership race, pledging to heal the divisions caused by the outgoing First Minister and Mr Murrell. Those close to her campaign suggest that if she is crownedFirst Minister she is ready to clear out dead wood at SN P HQ. Among the senior figures she could target are chief operating officer Sue Ruddick and SNP lawyer S cott M artin. Meanwhile, fellow leadership candidate Ms Regan hailed the departure of Mr M urrell and said she was ‘encouraged to see the democratic foundations of the now asserting their rightful f unction’. Nationalist MP Joanna Cherry, who i s b acking M s R egan, s aid ‘ if anyone was in any doubt’ the party needed a ‘reset’ then ‘the events of the last days have proved i t’. She added: ‘Winning elections isn’t e nough. I t’s w hat y ou d o w ith the wins that matters. Integrity matters. Our party and our c ountry can and will do better than t his.’ However, Health Secretary Mr Yousaf – p erceived t o b e t he S NP establishment’s preferred choice – has consistently dismissed c oncerns about the party’s transparency a s ‘ smears’. In a sycophantic tribute to his former boss, he praised Mr Murrell as ‘an outstanding servant of the i ndependence m ovement’. Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said his departure proved the wheels had ‘fallen off the S NP w agon’. She a dded: ‘ When S cotland m ost needs responsible governance, the SNP has turned inward and begun t o t ear i tself a part. ‘If this is what is happening in the party, just imagine the chaos in g overnment. ‘Even leadership candidates have c ast a spersions o n t he t rustworthiness o f t he S NP m achine.’ When a pproached b y S ky N ews, Ms Sturgeon said her husband was ‘ right’ t o a nnounce h is i mmediate r esignation. She added: ‘He had intended to step down when there was a new leader b ut I t hink h e w as r ight t o make t hat a nnouncement t oday.’ Ms Sturgeon added: ‘Peter has been a key part of the electoral success we have achieved in recent years and I know there will b e a r ecognition o f t hat a cross the p arty.’