Sturgeon: ‘If I could turn back the clock, I would take a different decision’

Nicola Sturgeon has admitted she wishes she had made a different decision over Peter Murrell's position at the top of the SNP, saying she would not have retained him as chief executive if she had the benefit of hindsight.

Speaking at the Hay Festival in Wales, the former first minister reflected on her decision to keep Murrell in the role after succeeding Alex Salmond as SNP leader in 2014, acknowledging that it was a judgement she would reverse if given the chance.

"If I could turn back the clock, of course, I would take a different decision," Sturgeon said.

The comments come days after Murrell admitted embezzling more than £400,000 from SNP funds over a period spanning 12 years. The former SNP chief executive pleaded guilty earlier this week and was remanded in custody ahead of sentencing, which is due to take place on 23 June.

For Sturgeon, the admission represents the latest chapter in a scandal that has transformed the political legacy of one of Scotland's most successful political partnerships.

Murrell served as SNP chief executive for more than two decades, overseeing the party's organisational operations during a period that saw it become the dominant force in Scottish politics. Sturgeon, meanwhile, led the SNP through its most electorally successful era and served as Scotland's first minister from 2014 until her resignation in 2023.

At the Hay Festival event, Sturgeon explained that her decision at the time had been based on what she believed was fairness rather than personal loyalty. She noted that Murrell had originally been appointed chief executive by Alex Salmond in 2000 and argued that she did not believe it was right for him to lose his position simply because she had become party leader.

"My judgement was that it was not fair for him to lose his job, that he had done well, because I was taking on a new job," she said.

However, she stressed that while she accepts responsibility for retaining him in the role, she does not accept responsibility for the crimes he later admitted committing.

The remarks offer one of the clearest acknowledgements yet from Sturgeon that a decision once defended at the heart of the SNP now appears very different in light of subsequent events.

The controversy surrounding the relationship between the party leader and chief executive was a recurring subject of debate throughout Sturgeon's leadership. Critics argued that the arrangement concentrated too much influence within a small group at the top of the party, while supporters pointed to the SNP's electoral success as evidence that the structure was working.

The political fallout from Murrell's guilty plea continues to reverberate through Scottish politics.

Earlier this week, Sturgeon described herself as having been deceived, misled and betrayed by her estranged husband, saying she had no knowledge of the offending and that she had learned of it only through the police investigation into SNP finances.

Operation Branchform, the Police Scotland investigation into the SNP's finances, began in 2021 and remains one of the most consequential political investigations in modern Scottish history. Sturgeon herself was questioned by detectives during the inquiry, although no charges were brought against her.

Meanwhile, First Minister John Swinney has rejected calls for a Holyrood inquiry into the affair, arguing that the extensive police investigation has already examined the issues in considerable detail.

For Sturgeon, however, the personal and political consequences continue to unfold in public.

More than a decade after she chose to retain Murrell as the SNP's chief executive, a decision she once considered justified has become one she now openly regrets.

And in a week dominated by revelations about one of Scotland's most significant political scandals, it was that admission that perhaps carried the greatest weight.