Trio quit as Murrell refuses to show them SNP books
SNP chief executive Peter Murrell was last night at the centre of a fresh secrecy row – which has prompted three party members to resign from key positions.
The Nationalists’ ruling body met yesterday to thrash out their strategy for May’s Holyrood election and a possible second referendum on independence.
According to leaked papers, national treasurer Douglas Chapman MP told the National Executive Committee (NEC) that there was £1.5 million in party coffers for the election campaign and £600,000 for referendum planning.
But it is understood members of the finance and audit committee demanded to see the party’s full accounts. When Mr Murrell
– the husband of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon – refused, three of them resigned, sources said.
There was already disquiet in the party about Mr Murrell, after previously leaked WhatsApp messages revealed he told another SNP official it was a ‘good time to be pressurising police’ when they were investigating sexual misconduct allegations against Alex Salmond.
He was twice called to give evidence to Holyrood’s inquiry into the Government’s botched handling of harassment complaints and afterwards two committee members wrote to the Crown Office asking whether he should be investigated for alleged perjury.
According to sources, the three members who resigned from the
SNP committee were Frank Ross, an Edinburgh councillor and former Lord Provost, Allison Graham of Mid Scotland and Fife, and Cynthia Guthrie, a company director.
The SNP has boasted in recent weeks about recruiting an additional 12,500 members but has not revealed its total.
Some sources believe membership has fallen from its previous level of 125,000, before recently rising again.
The NEC meeting also heard from Ms Sturgeon, who ordered senior SNP figures to ‘put independence front and centre’ of the election campaign.
However, SNP sources admitted there is now a belief in the party that the campaign cannot rely as heavily on the First Minister’s popularity.
One said: ‘Clearly the strategy was to say, “Look at me, I got us through the pandemic”.
‘I think that’s a questionable message now, with all this controversy going on and her integrity under question.’
An SNP spokesman said: ‘We don’t comment on leaks.’
Councillor Ross, Ms Guthrie and Ms Graham did not respond to requests for comment.
‘Sturgeon’s integrity is under question