Operation Branchform: Nicola Sturgeon cleared in SNP finance probe

Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon has been cleared as part of the police investigation into SNP finances.

Sturgeon was arrested and released without charges as part of the Operation Branchform inquiry, which began more than two years ago.

It has now been confirmed that she will face no further action.

Fellow SNP MSP Colin Beattie, the party's former treasurer, has also been cleared.

The news has been confirmed on the day that Peter Murrell - Sturgeon's estranged husband and the former chief executive of the SNP - appeared in Edinburgh Sheriff Court in connection with the inquiry.

Murrell made an appearance in private and was charged with embezzlement.

Police Scotland said: "Following direction from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, criminal enquiries into two people arrested as part of the investigation into the funding and finances of the Scottish National Party have now concluded.

"The 73 year-old man arrested on 18 April, 2023, and the 54 year-old woman arrested on 11 June, 2023, have not been charged and are no longer under investigation."

The news follows confirmation from Sturgeon that she will not seek re-election to the Scottish Parliament in 2026. 

She said "the time is right" to "open a new chapter" in her life, and is to publish her memoirs.

Beattie passed vetting for potential SNP candidates for 2026 and is to seek selection in Midlothian North.

Operation Branchform was launched in July 2021 following allegations reported to officers in relations to £600,000 of donations made to the SNP.

It later emerged that the scope of the investigation had been increased to include "potential embezzlement" and "misuse of funds".

Speaking outside her home, Sturgeon, a former solicitor, said it had been "a day of mixed emotions" for her.

She told reporters: "I was advised earlier today that after a very thorough investigation of all of the evidence there will be no action taken against me. In other words, I am completely in the clear.

"That is the outcome I would always have expected. As I have said to all of you many times, I have done nothing wrong. I was confident of reaching this point and getting to this outcome but obviously it is a relief now to have that confirmed."

Sturgeon continued: "For almost two years now I have had this cloud of investigation hanging over me. 

"I think it won't surprise anybody to hear me say that's not been an easy experience so to reach this point today is obviously something that I am relieved about. I've been trying to get on with my life and I now intend to do that."

On the duration of the investigation, she said it had been a "difficult" and frustrating" period, adding: "I was first minister of this country for the best part of a decade. I have utmost respect for the police and for the prosecution authorities in our country and I'm never going to say or do anything to undermine that. All I can say is I've done nothing wrong and I don't think there was ever a scrap of evidence that I had done anything wrong."