SNP members have been left “dismayed and quite shocked” by the recent turmoil in the party, a prominent MSP has said.
Michelle Thomson, who ran the recent party leadership campaign for Kate Forbes, said that now presented a challenge for Humza Yousaf to deal with alongside a host of others.
However she said Mr Yousaf deserved the full support of the party, and refused to back SNP MP Angus MacNeil’s call for the leadership contest to be re-run.
Police Scotland are currently investigating the SNP’s finances amid claims £660,000 raised to fight Indyref2 may have been spent on other things.
Officers searched the home of Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell, the SNP’s former chief executive, last Wednesday and arrested and questioned Mr Murrell for almost 12 hours.
He was released without charge pending further investigations.
The same day, officers in Fife seized a luxury £110,000 motorhome from outside the house of Mr Murrell’s widowed 92-year-old mother.
READ MORE: Humza Yousaf says SNP in 'period of transition' after police raids
SNP president Mike Russell has called the current period as the party’s biggest crisis in 50 years.
Ms Thomson, the MSP for Falkirk East, said there needed to be improvements in the governance of the party.
She told BBC Radio Scotland this morning: “The fact remains that Humza Yousaf won by 4 per cent, gaining 52% to 48%.
“So frankly, he now needs support to get on with a very, very challenging job right now.”
She continued: “There’s issues around the lack of governance, and I think many people in the SNP, many members, feel dismayed and quite shocked at events.”
The SNP has repeatedly refused to say if Mr Murrell has been suspended from the party or resigned his membership voluntarily.
READ MORE: SNP is 'not paying Peter Murrell's legal fees' amid police fraud probe
Ms Thomson said the SNP’s rules around the membership of those who had been charged with crimes were unclear.
She said: “He [Murrell] is innocent until proven guilty. He has not been charged with a crime.
“That may change, but we need to be clear about what specifically are the rules.
“I’m certainly not clear about that and I’ll be asking about what the position is.”
In 2015 party bosses suspended Ms Thomson – who at that point was an MP – while police investigated property deals.
She denied any wrongdoing and criminal proceedings were never brought. In 2019 she rejoined the SNP.
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