Operation Branchform timeline: The downfall of ex-SNP chief executive Peter Murrell

Former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell has admitted embezzling £400,310.65 from the party.

Murrell, the estranged husband of former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, used the illicit funds to bankroll a lavish lifestyle which included luxury goods and a motorhome, and towards the purchase of two cars.

The 61-year-old, who was at the helm of the party for more than 20 years, pleaded guilty during a hearing at the High Court in Edinburgh on Monday.

Murrell was charged as part of Police Scotland's Operation Branchform - a long-running investigation into the SNP's funding and finances.

Here, we take a look at some of the key dates which led to the downfall of the once political party kingpin.

September 2014

Alex Salmond quits as first minister and SNP leader following the results of the Scottish independence referendum. He is replaced by his deputy, Nicola Sturgeon.

In an interview with The Telegraph in 2023, the late Mr Salmond, who died in 2024, claimed he told his successor at the time that her husband, Peter Murrell, should not be chief executive while she leads the party.

He said "neither took it well", adding: "But it was advice well meant. It seemed to me a patently obvious point. I think my estrangement from Nicola and Peter can be traced to that moment."

May 2015

The SNP secures a historic landslide general election victory in Scotland, winning 56 out of 59 seats.

March 2017

Ms Sturgeon announces plans for a second independence referendum.

The SNP launch the #ScotRef fundraiser in a bid to raise £1m.

June 2017

The #ScotRef crowdfunder is closed down early, having raised just under £500,000.

The move comes after the SNP suffered losses in the general election, winning 35 seats out of 59 in Scotland - 21 fewer than in 2015.

December 2019

The SNP bounce back in another general election - securing 48 seats and 45% of the vote. Ms Sturgeon says the country has sent a "clear message" on indyref2.

A second fundraiser via website yes.scot is launched and helps to bring the ringfenced independence campaign fund to around £667,000.

SNP membership peaks at 125,691.

October 2020

Pro-independence blogger Stuart Campbell, who is behind the Wings Over Scotland website, shines a spotlight on the SNP's 2019 accounts and highlights how the party only has £96,854 cash in hand and at the bank and total net assets of £271,916.

He urges concerned donors to ask the SNP what happened to their contribution.

March 2021

Three senior SNP officials - Frank Ross, Allison Graham and Cynthia Guthrie - resign from the party's finance and audit committee after being denied sight of the accounts.

At the same virtual SNP National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, Ms Sturgeon is filmed downplaying concerns, stating: "The party has never been in a stronger financial position than it is right now."

She later warns: "Just be very careful, all of us, about suggestions that there are problems with the party's finances because we depend on donors to donate.

"There are no reasons for people to be concerned about the party's finances and all of us need to be careful about not suggesting that there is."

The video of Ms Sturgeon, which appears to have been recorded without her knowledge, is not leaked until two years later.

Following the meeting, Police Scotland receives its first complaint about the alleged misuse of party funds.

May 2021

The SNP storms to its fourth consecutive success at the Scottish parliament election, winning 64 seats - just one shy of a majority.

Douglas Chapman, an MP at the time, later resigns as party treasurer, claiming he has not been given enough information to do his job.

Westminster colleague Joanna Cherry, a vocal internal critic of the party's leadership, also resigns from her role on the NEC amid "transparency" concerns.

June 2021

MSP Colin Beattie takes over as SNP treasurer.

Murrell loans the party £107,620 to help with "cash flow" following the Holyrood election, however, the news does not emerge until December 2022.

July 2021

Police Scotland launches Operation Branchform into the SNP's funding and finances amid complaints that ringfenced cash for independence campaigning has been used improperly by being spent elsewhere.

August 2021

As the party's annual accounts are published, then treasurer Mr Beattie acknowledges there has been "concern" about transparency over independence-related appeals that has raised more than £600,000.

In a section of the accounts, he reveals £666,953 has been raised since 2017 up to the end of 2021, with a total of £51,760 expenditure applied to this income.

The money was "earmarked" through internal processes, he says, though the accounts do not officially record a separate sum.

December 2022

When it publicly emerges Murrell loaned the SNP £107,620 in June 2021, Ms Sturgeon says: "The resources that he lent the party were resources that belonged to him."

February 2023

Ms Sturgeon unexpectedly announces she is standing down as SNP leader and first minister, saying: "In my head and in my heart, I know that time is now."

This comes less than a month after she said she was "nowhere near" ready to quit and still had "plenty in the tank".

Ms Sturgeon denies the controversial Isla Bryson case is the reason behind her decision.

March 2023

Concerns are once again raised over the exact size of the SNP membership following an earlier Sunday Mail story reporting it had fallen dramatically.

Under pressure, the party eventually reveals that just 72,186 members are eligible to vote in the leadership contest to replace Ms Sturgeon - a drop of around 30,000 since 2021.

Murray Foote, then the SNP's head of communications, announces his resignation.

Mr Foote, who described the initial newspaper story as "drivel", claims he acted in "good faith" when issuing agreed party responses to media inquiries regarding membership numbers.

Murrell follows suit and resigns with immediate effect as the SNP's chief executive after more than 20 years at the helm.

Reports suggest members of the SNP's ruling NEC threatened a vote of no confidence.

Shouldering the blame for the party's responses to the media over membership numbers, Murrell accepts: "While there was no intent to mislead, I accept that this has been the outcome."

In the same month, Liz Lloyd, Ms Sturgeon's strategic adviser and long-time chief of staff, announces she will leave the Scottish government when her boss does.

In an interview with Sky News, Ms Sturgeon says she has not heard whether police want to interview her or her husband as part of the long-running probe into SNP finances.

Speaking to Beth Rigby, Ms Sturgeon declines to comment on the ongoing investigation.

April 2023

On 5 April, Murrell is arrested and later released without charge in connection with Operation Branchform.

The couple's home is searched, with a blue forensics tent erected outside the South Lanarkshire property.

Police also search the SNP's headquarters in Edinburgh and seize a luxury motorhome that was parked in the driveway of Murrell's 92-year-old mother's home in Fife.

As news of the arrest is reported across the nation, former SNP top dog and now Alba Party leader Mr Salmond walks past his old party HQ along with colleagues Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh and Chris McEleny.

Mr Salmond, on his way to a nearby BBC office, says: "I led the SNP for a long time. I'm very sad about what's happening to it and indeed what it has become."

Days later, it emerges that the party's longstanding accountants, Johnston Carmichael, had months earlier resigned from their role as auditors.

New and then first minister Humza Yousaf goes on to admit he was unaware of the accounting situation or that the SNP owned a state-of-the-art motorhome until he became party leader in recent weeks.

On 18 April, Mr Beattie is arrested and later released without charge in connection with Operation Branchform.

He subsequently steps down as SNP treasurer, with then MP Stuart McDonald taking on the role. Mr McDonald admits it's a "difficult and challenging time" for the party.

On 25 April, Ms Sturgeon tells reporters at Holyrood: "I understand the view that some people might have, that I knew this was all about to unfold and that's why I walked away.

"Nothing could be further from the truth. I could not have anticipated in my worst nightmares what would have unfolded over the past few weeks."

May 2023

The SNP's Westminster group files its audited accounts ahead of the deadline, ensuring it does not miss out on £1.2m worth of "short money" - public funding for opposition parties to carry out their parliamentary work.

It comes after the SNP signed a contract with AMS Accountants Group earlier in the month, after it was revealed the previous auditors, Johnston Carmichael, quit in September 2022 following a review of the company's client portfolio.

June 2023

On 11 June, Ms Sturgeon is arrested and released without charge pending further investigation as part of Operation Branchform.

The then Glasgow Southside MSP "voluntarily" arranged with Police Scotland to be questioned as part of the investigation into the SNP's finances, a spokesperson says.

Upon returning to Holyrood, she states: "The thing that sustains me right now is the certainty that I have done nothing wrong."

July 2023

Then Police Scotland chief constable Sir Iain Livingstone says Operation Branchform has "moved beyond what some of the initial reports were".

Sir Iain does not give a timeline for the length of the investigation, but says it will be "proportionate and timeous".

August 2023

Ex-comms boss Mr Foote returns to the SNP to replace Murrell as chief executive of the party. He leaves the post 14 months later.

April 2024

On 18 April, Murrell is re-arrested as part of Operation Branchform and later charged in connection with embezzlement of SNP funds.

May 2024

Police Scotland submits a standard prosecution report to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS).

It is now up to COPFS to decide whether there is enough evidence to prosecute Murrell, and whether it believes a prosecution would be in the public interest.

January 2025

Ms Surgeon announces on Instagram that she and Murrell have been "separated for some time" and have "decided to end" their marriage.

The pair met via the SNP in 1988 and first became a couple in 2003. They later married in July 2010 at Oran Mor in Glasgow.

Ms Sturgeon adds: "It goes without saying that we still care deeply for each other, and always will."

March 2025

Ms Surgeon, who has been an MSP since 1999, announces she will not seek re-election at the 2026 Holyrood election.

The following week, on 20 March, Murrell appears at Edinburgh Sheriff Court charged with embezzlement. He makes no plea and is released on bail.

On the same day, Police Scotland confirms Ms Sturgeon and Mr Beattie are no longer under investigation.

Speaking outside her home, Ms Sturgeon says: "As I have said to all of you many times, I have done nothing wrong.

"So, I was confident of reaching this point and getting to this outcome, but obviously it is a relief now to have that confirmed."

In a statement posted online, Mr Beattie expresses his absolute delight in being cleared and says he intends to "share a glass of something with my wife tonight".

The MSP for Midlothian North and Musselburgh adds: "While there was no question in my mind that I had done nothing wrong, the fact is that it created a question among those who do not know me."

August 2025

The SNP's financial accounts reveal the party spent £100,790 on the campervan seized by police two years prior.

Still impounded, the vehicle is now worth less than half of its original cost - depreciating to £41,284 as of 31 December 2024.

The accounts also show membership has fallen to 56,011 as of 1 June 2025, which is a significant drop since its peak of 125,691 in 2019.

However, donations surge from £369,308 in 2023 to £937,167 in 2024 - the highest level since 2017.

February 2026

Murrell is due to appear before the High Court in Glasgow on 20 February.

Ahead of the scheduled preliminary hearing, the Scottish Sun publishes the full list of charges he is facing after viewing the indictment.

In total, Murrell is accused of embezzling £459,046.49 between August 2010 and January 2023.

The February court date does not go ahead and is instead pushed back to 25 May.

In the same month, it is revealed that Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC - who holds the dual role of Scotland's chief prosecutor and the Scottish government's principal legal adviser as a cabinet minister - informed now First Minister John Swinney of Murrell's charges around 10 months before they were made public.

Mr Swinney says it is "entirely appropriate" for the nation's top law officer to brief him on "sensitive" court cases.

Ms Bain also defends her actions while being grilled by MSPs at Holyrood, saying: "The lord advocate does not brief political parties, the lord advocate advises constitutional office holders of information they require to be aware of."

May 2026

The SNP wins its fifth successive Scottish parliament election, securing 58 seats. Mr Swinney is re-elected as first minister.

Ms Bain, who was appointed lord advocate in June 2021 after being nominated for the post by Ms Sturgeon, announces she intends to step down from the role.

Via a freedom of information (FOI) request, it is revealed Police Scotland has spent £2,173,089 as of 30 April 2026 on Operation Branchform.

On 25 May, Murrell appears before the High Court in Edinburgh.

He pleads guilty to an amended indictment, admitting embezzling £400,310.65 from the SNP between August 2010 and October 2022.

A full narrative of the facts will be heard in court when the case calls again on 2 June.

Ahead of that, the court publishes 125 pages of documents detailing the charge against Murrell.

It includes using £16,489 of SNP money in 2016 in part payment for a £32,989 Volkswagen Golf; £57,500 of party funds towards the purchase of an £81,277 Jaguar I-PACE car in 2019; and £124,550 of SNP cash to buy a Niesmann and Bischoff Smove 7.4E motorhome in 2020.

The indictment additionally includes dozens of retailers where Murrell made purchases totalling £139,971.

Goods purchased over the years included a PlayStation 3 for £247.42; games for multiple different consoles including Grand Theft Auto V (£42.99), The Sims 3: Pets (£31.82) and Battlefield 4 (£34.69); and two Bremont watches amounting to £9,350.25.

He also spent £4,225 on a Starwalker World Time fountain pen; £68.82 on two Ideal Standard toilet seats; and £3,231.90 on a Jura Giga 5 Cromo coffee machine.

Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Houston, who had oversight of Operation Branchform, says Murrell used SNP funds to "bankroll the lavish lifestyle he craved but could not afford".

Ms Sturgeon issues a statement via Instagram stories, saying she is "angry, hurt, sad and very distressed" over the impact of her ex's actions on family, friends and the SNP.

She adds: "To be deceived and let down by a husband I loved and trusted has caused me acute pain. Why he acted as he did is, and always will be, beyond my comprehension.

"To be clear: I had no knowledge or suspicion whatsoever that he was using SNP funds for personal purposes. I am utterly appalled that he did so and cannot begin to understand why."

Ms Sturgeon highlights how she was cleared in the investigation.

She adds: "I was misled just as others were.

"I know that there will be political discussion in light of what has happened, and I understand why.

"However, for me this has also been a profound personal trauma. I need to remain focused on recovering from that and building a new phase of life. I will be making no further comment."

Once one-half of a political power couple, Murrell's fall from grace will culminate with his sentencing on 23 June.

(c) Sky News 2026: Operation Branchform timeline: The downfall of ex-SNP chief executive Peter Murrell