What did Nicola Sturgeon know?
Coffee House Shots
The Spectator
4.4 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 26 May 2026
⏱️ 11 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Peter Murrell, the SNP’s former chief executive and Nicola Sturgeon’s estranged husband, has admitted embezzling £400,000 in party funds. The guilty plea has revived questions about what senior figures in the SNP knew, how long the scandal had been going on, and what happens next. To discuss the story, including some of the ridiculous purchases including a couple of hairdryers (for a bald man) and £2600 salt and pepper shakers, James Heale and Michael Simmons join Megan McElroy.
Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.
For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts.
Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Subscribe to The Spectator and get 12 weeks of Britain's most incisive politics coverage, unrivaled books and arts reviews, and so much more, all for just £12. |
| 0:10.0 | Not only that, but we'll also send you a £20 Amazon gift card, absolutely free. |
| 0:16.5 | Go to www.spictator.com forward slash voucher to claim this offer now. |
| 0:28.6 | Hello and welcome to Coffee House Shots, The Spectator's Daily Politics Podcast. |
| 0:32.6 | I'm Megan McElroyd and I'm joined today by James Lear of Deputy Political Editor |
| 0:36.2 | and Michael Simmons are economics editor. But Michael is not joining us in his capacity's economics editor today. He's dialing in from Scotland. And today we're here to discuss the fact that the ex-SMP chief executive, Peter Murrell, has admitted embezzling £400,000 in party funds. Murrell is, of course, Nicholas Sturgeon's estranged husband. |
| 0:56.0 | Michael, what did you make of the story when it broke this weekend? |
| 0:58.3 | Well, this is a massive shock. |
| 1:00.2 | And really, all everyone was talking about in Scotland yesterday was this news. |
| 1:05.6 | Because we weren't quite sure when this was going to happen. |
| 1:08.8 | I mean, behind the scenes, it had been suggested |
| 1:11.6 | that the Crown Office, who are the prosecutors in Scotland, had pretty irrefutable evidence. And |
| 1:18.0 | the hearing in this case was meant to happen before the Scottish election. And it was moved to |
| 1:23.7 | yesterday. Peter Murrell turned up in court and he admitted to that embezzlement charge. |
| 1:29.5 | There was a slight play bargain where they knocked off £50,000 from the initial charge. |
| 1:35.0 | So I'm not sure why he was so insistent on that, but he's pleaded to that, guilty to that, |
| 1:40.6 | and was remanded in custody and sentencing will happen next month. And it's quite funny. |
| 1:47.8 | There's been various places have done lists of all the stuff he was, he was buying with |
| 1:52.7 | SMP party funds. So that included things like, um, that are known about like the camper van, |
| 1:59.1 | and this jaguar car, but there was little things as well. |
| 2:02.1 | I mean, he spent £20,000 on fancy pens. |
| 2:06.6 | There was various coffee machines who was buying like games, consoles and games. |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in 19 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Spectator, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Spectator and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.