'HEAVY HEART'
Nicola Sturgeon & husband Peter Murrell split as she confirms marriage has ended
It comes just 15 months after Ms Sturgeon insisted she would be married to Mr Murrell 'for a long time to come'
NICOLA Sturgeon has revealed that her marriage to Peter Murrell has ended after being secretly separated "for some time".
The former First Minister shared the news with followers on social media this morning.
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Posting on her Instagram story, Ms Sturgeon wrote: "With a heavy heart I am confirming that Peter and I have decided to end our marriage.
";To all intents and purposes we have been separated for some time now and I feel it is time to bring others up to speed with where we are.
"It goes without saying that we still care deeply for each other, and always will.
"We will be making no further comment."
It comes as both are still under investigation as part of Operation Branchform - a cop probe into alleged missing SNP finances.
Ms Sturgeon and Mr Murrell first met back in 1988 when she was just 18 years old at an SNP youth event and they officially became a couple in 2003.
With a heavy heart I am confirming that Peter and I have decided to end our marriage... we have been separated for some time now
Nicola Sturgeon
They got married seven years later in July 2010 at Oran Mor in Glasgow.
He had been at the helm of the SNP for more than a decade while she was Deputy First Minister to Salmond at the time.
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The pair don't have any children together and Ms Sturgeon previously spoke out about suffering a miscarriage when she was 40, shortly before the 2011 Scottish parliamentary election campaign.
Back in 2016, she said she was preparing to announce news of the pregnancy with Mr Murrell when she lost the baby.
NICOLA Sturgeon has refused to say her husband Peter Murrell is innocent
In 2023 she then said she feared she "wouldn’t have been taken as seriously” as a politician if she’d had kids.
Ms Sturgeon told a BBC Scotland podcast: “There’s been lots and lots of speculation over the years about why I don’t have kids now.
“But, if I look back to my younger days, there was probably an element of, ‘if I was to have a child while pursuing a political career, maybe I wouldn’t be taken as seriously’.
“So, yes, it does come at a cost.”
The announcement of their shock split comes just 15 months after Ms Sturgeon insisted she would be married to Mr Murrell “for a long time to come”.
In October 2023, she said her marriage remains strong during a deeply personal interview.
It goes without saying that we still care deeply for each other, and always will
Nicola Sturgeon
In a podcast interview with TV presenter and former Tory MP Gyles Brandreth, she said: “We’re still married and we will be married for a long time to come.”
And it wasn't the first time that Ms Sturgeon publicly defended the 'power couple'.
Three months prior she rubbished any idea that their marriage was on the rocks, telling an audience it’s “not something anyone should worry about".
At an Edinburgh Fringe event in August 2023, interviewer Iain Dale asked her what impact the probe was having on her marriage.
At the time, she said she "chooses to talk about happier things" with Mr Murrell and said: "My marriage is not something anyone should worry about."
But they had rarely been spotted together since Mr Murrell stood down from his post amid a storm during the party leadership contest in March 2023 about false details being issued by his party HQ.
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Both Ms Sturgeon and the ex-SNP chief exec have been arrested as part of the long-running cop probe after allegations were made about £600,000 of donations made to the party.
The former SNP leader was released without charge but has remained under investigation by police in connection with the probe having been questioned by cops on June 11, 2023.
It came after the arrest of both Mr Murrell and the then SNP treasurer Colin Beattie.
Mr Murrell was later charged in connection with alleged embezzlement from the SNP in April last year and cops handed over their report into the investigation to the Crown Office in August.
However, there has been no movement around the probe since and we told in October how cops were “frustrated” with the lack of progress around the case.
Last month Ms Sturgeon revealed that she is still in the dark about the investigation and insisted that she is “getting on with my life as best I can”.
Timeline of Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell's relationship
1988: Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell first meet at an SNP youth event.
2003: Then-Glasgow list MSP Ms Sturgeon and SNP chief executive Mr Murrell begin their relationship.
July 16, 2010: The couple tie the knot with a ceremony at the Oran Mor in Glasgow’s west end.
April 2, 2023: Ms Sturgeon claims online rumours and the need to seek more privacy was “part of the reason” for her resignation as First Minister.
April 5, 2023: The home of the couple, near Glasgow, is searched by police, with a separate raid on the SNP’s Edinburgh HQ, as part of their investigation into the party’s finances. Peter Murrell is arrested and quizzed by cops for 12 hours before being released without charge.
April 8, 2023: A £110,000 luxury motorhome is seized by cops from outside the home of Mr Murrell’s mother.
April 28, 2023: Ms Sturgeon and Mr Murrell are spotted for the first time since the raid on their Uddingston home. She dismisses rumours around her sexuality, including one that she had an affair with a female French diplomat.
June 11, 2023: Police Scotland officers arrest Ms Sturgeon and take her for questioning as part of their probe into SNP finances. She is released without charge and insists that she is innocent of any wrongdoing.
August 10, 2023: At the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Ms Sturgeon rubbishes claims her marriage is in trouble, telling an audience: “My marriage is not something anyone should worry about”.
October 1, 2023: During a podcast, Ms Sturgeon insists her marriage is not on the rocks. She says: “We are still married and will be married for a long time to come”.
April 18, 2024: Mr Murrell is re-arrested by cops and is charged with embezzlement in connection with the investigation into SNP finances.
April 26, 2024: Ms Sturgeon spotted at the annual Diva Awards with pal Val McDermid in London without her wedding ring.
December 2024: Ms Sturgeon says she is in the dark about the ongoing police investigation, adding: "I am just getting on with my life as best I can at the moment."
January 11, 2025: During an interview with the Financial Times, Ms Sturgeon says politics was “all-consuming for a long, long time”, having been married to Mr Murrell for over a decade.
January 13, 2025: In a social media post, Nicola Sturgeon announces the end of her marriage to Peter Murrell and says they have been separated for “some time”.
She claimed she knows “nothing more” of the probe as she said: "I have nothing to add. Nothing to offer you on that.
“I know nothing more than I did back then and I can’t comment on it anyway.
“I am just getting on with my life as best I can at the moment.”
In June last year after her arrest she insisted “beyond doubt” she was “innocent of any wrongdoing”.
We told how former First Minister Ms Sturgeon was pictured taking just days after her husband was arrested.
While Mr Murrell was being questioned by detectives in April 2023, police as well as in
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Officers were seen removing boxes of evidence and bags from the couples home and the party's headquarters.
A thorough search of also took place with searches of the garden shed and even the barbecue.
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