Nicola Sturgeon speaks out on ‘worst week of my life’ after being ‘betrayed’ by her ex-husband
Nicola Sturgeon has described last week as “probably the worst” of her life after her ex-husband Peter Murrell admitted embezzling more than £400,000 from the Scottish National Party (SNP).
The former Scottish first minister admitted she was “not okay” and felt “cheated”, “misled” and “betrayed” by her ex-husband.
Her emotional comments came in her first public appearance since Mr Murrell, from whom she split in 2025, appeared in court on Monday.
He was remanded in custody after pleading guilty to embezzling a total of £400,310.65 from the SNP between 2010 and 2022. The funds were reportedly spent on various luxury items such as a caravan, cars, expensive watches and a telescope.
Speaking at Listowel Writers’ Week in Co Kerry, Ms Sturgeon told the audience: “This has probably been the worst week of my life.”
He added: “There have been some tough times for me in the last few years but I think this puts them all behind us.” The former SNP leader said he came to the painful realization that he had “spent many years married to someone I frankly didn’t know”.
He called it “a really painful truth to process” and admitted that he was “in the very early stages of processing this.” Ms Sturgeon added that “being in public turmoil makes this even more difficult”.
While he said it “will take some time to properly accept” the events, he promised to “talk a lot more” in the coming days and noted that the case against Mr. Murrell was still active before his sentencing.
But Ms Sturgeon insisted she wanted “people to hear my side of it” and acknowledged “there are questions”.
He directly addressed potential questions from the public: “I know there are questions, I understand that. If I were on the outside looking in at anyone else, I’d probably ask too. ‘How could he not know?'”
To which he replied: “I think there’s a big mistaken assumption underlying this question, which is that I know everything about it, or I know everything about it.”
Ms Sturgeon revealed that as recently as Monday she was “reading some of the things in the newspapers for the first time” and was referring to items she had “never seen, never known about”.
He explained: “It wasn’t just because I didn’t question where they came from.” “None of them would question me how he could afford it,” he said of the items he knew. She cited the combination of high salaries and not having children, as well as her demanding job that allows her to work “at all hours of the day, often away from home.”
“Maybe that didn’t reflect well on me, I didn’t spend a lot of time in my kitchen,” he admitted. “But I never doubted some of the things he bought. I knew he couldn’t afford them. He could afford it.”
Reiterating her sense of betrayal, Mrs Sturgeon said: “I have been deceived, just like other people. I have been misled, lied to and betrayed and I will not be the last woman to be betrayed by her husband.” He acknowledged that “circumstances may be unusual and difficult.”
Concluding, Ms Sturgeon summed up her current situation by suggesting she would “probably need to sit down with a therapist”: “That’s a long, winding way of saying I’m not okay.”
Despite the profound personal impact, she expressed resilience: “I’ll be okay, I’m a strong and resilient person, I’ve had to be that way for the last few years, but it’s a hard thing to accept.” He acknowledged the added challenges of dealing with such a personal crisis “in full public view” and confirmed: “So yes, it’s going to be a process.”
