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The arrest comes after a bruising few months for the SNP, which has dominated Scottish politics for most of the last two decades.

Humza Yousaf won a contest just over a week ago to replace Sturgeon as SNP leader and first minister that exposed deep divisions within the party, and he is now battling to restore its credibility.

Talking to reporters after news broke, Yousaf called the arrest a “difficult day for the party” and said he wanted to reassure members about transparency and party finances.

“It certainly doesn’t do us any good,” Yousaf said when asked if Murrell’s arrest would hurt the party. “People will have questions, there will be some concerns. Our party membership will have concerns too.”

Yousaf said he did not believe the investigation into party finances had caused Sturgeon to resign.

“I believe her very much when she says how exhausted she was,” Yousaf said. “I think anybody who watched her over the course of the pandemic during those daily briefings, day after day, I think anybody could understand how exhausting that is.”

Murrell, who had run the SNP for more than two decades and has been married to Sturgeon since 2010, resigned last month after accepting the blame for misleading the public about a plunge in the number of party members.

Sturgeon also stood down as the leader of Scotland’s semi-autonomous government last month after eight years in power, saying she had become too divisive to lead the nation to independence.

In a referendum in 2014, Scots rejected ending the more-than 300-year-old union with England by 55 per cent to 45 per cent.

Britain’s vote to leave the European Union two years later when most Scots wanted to stay, and Scotland’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic brought new support for independence. However, the Conservative government in Westminster refuses to permit a new referendum.

Polls show support for the SNP and Scottish independence has dropped since Sturgeon’s departure.

Police Scotland said a report would be sent to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, the country’s prosecutors.

Reuters, AP

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