FORMER Justice Secretary Kenneth MacAskill has made a scathing attack on the SNP’s top official, saying he must be more than “cheerleader-in-chief for his spouse”, Nicola Sturgeon.

Mr MacAskill said that by over-promoting his wife, SNP chief executive Peter Murrell had "eclipsed" the party’s other talents and the independence cause.

He said: “The SNP is bigger and the cause wider than just her [the First Minister]. Focusing on her been both a high-risk and short-term strategy. Others need allowed to blossom.”

Mr MacAskill has become a leading critic of Mr Murrell since the SNP lost a third of its MPs in the General Election, and has called for him to be replaced.

He recently said Mr Murrell’s seven-year-old marriage to Ms Sturgeon “must affect his judgment” and has stopped the party from working on a “succession strategy”.

He said: “They need to recruit a deputy with the intention of replacing him in a year.”

Now, in an article for the Herald, Mr MacAskill expands on his criticism, saying Ms Sturgeon and her husband need to reinvigorate the party’s grassroots campaign.

Referring to problems in the general election, he said: “Valuable learning that was garnered in election campaigning had been allowed to dissipate.

“Stories abounded of SNP campaigning errors that would make old stalwarts weep.”

He said social media was important but not enough to win, and “some basics seems to have been forgotten. Activism on the ground, not just in cyberspace, is needed. Ms Sturgeon has to address that. The organisation that had been built up needs to be restored.”

However his most cutting criticism was directed at Ms Sturgeon’s husband.

He said: “It’s a complicated job running a political party and Peter Murrell has done tremendous work.

“But, as party chief executive, he has to build the party from the base up, not simply be cheerleader-in-chief for his spouse.

“The profile of the party has never been greater, yet the spotlight never more focused on one individual.

“Ms Sturgeon is hugely talented and a great asset. However, the concentration on her detracts from both colleagues and the wider cause.”

There have been misgivings within the SNP about a husband-and-wife team running the party ever since Ms Sturgeon took over as leader in November 2014.

The party, under Mr Murrell, immediately hired the Glasgow Hydro so that 12,000 people could listen to Ms Sturgeon speak as the new leader.

Asked by the Herald’s sister paper, the Sunday Herald, in 2014 if she would ever sack Mr Murrell as chief executive, Ms Sturgeon said: “If I thought it was merited.”