Tory MP demands UK inquiry into Peter Murrell scandal

Lord Young sentenced Murrell to five years and three months at the High Court in Edinburgh on Tuesday .

The judge said he would have imposed more than seven years had the former SNP chief executive not pleaded guilty.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is due to stand down as PM (Image: PA Media)

The estranged husband of Nicola Sturgeon embezzled a total of £400,310.65 over a 12-year period between August 2010 and October 2022 while serving as the SNP's most senior member of staff.

John Swinney has long said he does not believe an inquiry is needed following a five-year "forensic" police investigation.

Mr Lamont told the Commons: "Following the conviction of former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell for embezzlement, serious questions about governance and oversight remain unanswered.

"The Scottish Government is refusing to establish an inquiry, despite clear public concern.

"The law does provide for UK inquiries into devolved matters where there is a wider public interest.

"So as the Prime Minister prepares to leave office, will he set up an inquiry with the powers needed so we can uncover the truth?"

Sir Keir stopped short of committing to any action, but used the exchange to pile pressure on the SNP, saying the party had "giant questions of their own to answer" and accusing them of double standards on transparency.

The Prime Minister said: "On this question, it is really a serious set of questions that need to be answered by the SNP. They simply refuse to do so.

"They call for transparency and accountability for everybody else. When they have giant questions of their own to answer, nothing to see here, don't want to know, don't want to have an inquiry. It is totally the wrong approach."

Keir Starmer says the SNP has questions to answer over Peter Murrell: "They call for transparency and accountability for everybody else. When they have giant questions of their own to answer, nothing to see here, don't want to know, don't want to have an inquiry." #PMQs pic.twitter.com/kr6GTySEdq

— Andrew Learmonth (@andrewlearmonth) June 24, 2026

The full scale of Murrell's spending emerged at a hearing at the High Court in Edinburgh earlier this month.

The most striking purchase was a £124,550 luxury motorhome, bought the day after he ordered Amazon guidebooks about touring Scotland.

Motorhome at mother's house evidence in the case of Peter Murrell. (Image: Police Scotland)

Despite being paid for with SNP funds, it travelled just four miles — from a dealership to his mother's house in Dunfermline — and was found stocked with Le Creuset cookware, Molton Brown toiletries and an Alessi teapot.

A false invoice described it as a van.

Murrell made 383 Amazon purchases totalling more than £42,000, with items routinely mislabelled in party accounts.

A £3,070 robotic lawnmower was logged as "legal fees"; an egg poacher as "Ethernet cabling".

He also spent nearly £9,000 on coffee machines, more than £1,000 on Jo Malone candles, and bought two Bremont watches for £9,350, recorded as "event merchandise".

Three vehicles, including a Jaguar i-Pace worth £81,277, were also purchased with party money.

As chief executive, Murrell had direct access to the SNP's main bank account, funded by membership fees and donations, and ultimate approval over his own expenses.

In his sentencing, Lord Young said Murrell's position of authority in the SNP meant he was "able to circumvent the checks and balances that existed".

However, the judge said the embezzlement was "not particularly sophisticated".

He added that "one factor in the sentence" he imposed was to "act as a deterrent to any senior officials and other large organisations who might be tempted to abuse their position in the way that you did".

Speaking to journalists at Holyrood on Tuesday, Mr Swinney said: "I was not a serving office bearer in the Scottish National Party from 2004 to 2024, so I had no operational right to look at these things.

"But is it distressing? Is it hurtful? Is it agony? Yes, all of those things.

"But part of what I view as my responsibility as leader of the Scottish National Party today is to make sure that the SNP operates with clear and effective governance that protects the interests of the party and that uppermost in my thinking at all times."