Nicola Sturgeon: Here's how she met her husband Peter Murrell

Nicola Sturgeon has been arrested, interviewed and released without charges in relation to the financial probe into the Scottish National Party’s (SNP) use of funds on Sunday.

Despite the controversy around the high-profile case, Humza Yousaf confirmed that he won’t be suspending the former First Minister’s MSP whip.

Sturgeon is not the first executive who was detained and questioned in the investigation.

In fact, her husband Peter Murrell too was taken into custody earlier this year.

The scandal around the SNP sparked speculation about the state of the power couple’s marriage after Sturgeon made a media appearance allegedly not wearing her wedding ring.

Both SNP top politicians, they have been married for over 20 years and have shared more than just high-flying careers together.

The former FM has recently opened up about her heartbreaking miscarriage that cast a shadow on their plan to start a family and stated her intention to foster children in the future.

Here is who Peter Murrell is and how he got romantically involved with Nicola Sturgeon in the first place.

Who is Nicola Sturgeon's husband Peter Murrell?

Peter Murrell has been the chief executive officer of the SNP since 1999.

Born in Edinburgh in 1964, he attended Craigmount High School in the city and studied at the University of Glasgow before working his way through the ranks of the SNP.

It is known that at one point, he worked for former Scotland's FM Alex Salmond and was even partially credited with the SNP’s success in the elections in 2007.

In 2021, he was paid just under £80,000 for the party’s CEO role, and his responsibility was to look after the party’s finances.

Murrel resigned on 17 March, shortly after his wife Nicola Sturgeon announced her decision to quit.

On 5 April, he was arrested by Scottish police in relation to the probe into the party's finances. He was released with no charges made.

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How did Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell become a couple?

Nicola Sturgeon first met Murrell in 1988 when she was 18 years old. She was volunteering at Alex Salmond’s constituency office and attended an SNP youth camp organised by her future husband, then aged around 24.

They didn’t become a couple until 2003.

The pair married in July 2010 in a civil ceremony in Glasgow’s West End, with guests including top Scottish politicians.

The couple could often be seen together at party conferences, outside polling stations and at official events such as the Queen’s Jubilee concert.

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Sources used:

- National World: 'Nicola Sturgeon's husband: who is Peter Murrell and how did they meet?'

- Tatler: 'Peter Murrell: everything you need to know about Nicola Sturgeon’s husband, arrested in SNP finance probe'