Nicola Sturgeon resignation: Five political earthquakes to hit SNP and Humza Yousaf since Sturgeon resignation as first minister

Life for the SNP has certainly not got any easier since Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation – and the polls reflect that 12 months on

A year on from her shock resignation as Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon’s legacy – and the subsequent fall-out for the SNP from her departure – is being put under the microscope.

The former first minister stunned colleagues and opponents on February 15, 2023 as she announced she would stand down from the top job during a hastily-prepared press conference at Bute House, the first minister’s official residence in Edinburgh.

She was the country’s longest serving first minister and the first woman to hold the post.

A billboard in Glasgow that ran in December urging for former health secretary Michael Matheson to be sacked. Mr Matheson would later quit the role in February. Picture: John Devlin

But in the 12 months that have passed since that pivotal moment, it has been far from smooth sailing for the SNP and Ms Sturgeon’s successor Humza Yousaf.

There have been investigations linked to Operation Branchform, and inquiries, specifically around the Covid pandemic, where Ms Sturgeon’s conduct has come under intense scrutiny.

Here, The Scotsman analyses five political earthquakes that have hit the SNP since Ms Sturgeon’s resignation, and what the ongoing fallout from those remains.

Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell’s arrest

It took less than a week after Mr Yousaf’s swearing in as First Minister for the first major speed bump of his time as leader to emerge.

Peter Murrell – the husband of Ms Sturgeon – was arrested on April 5 last year by Police Scotland, in connection to the Operation Branchform investigation into the spending of £600,000 of SNP finances.

Mr Murrell has only just resigned as the party's chief executive the previous month – a post he had held since 1999.

The 59-year-old was questioned for about 12 hours after being taken into police custody before later being released without charge, pending further enquiries.

On the same day, detectives swooped on Ms Sturgeon’s home in co-ordinated morning raids, which saw officers rifle through her bins, back garden and the SNP headquarters.

A blue forensic tent was set up outside the former first minister’s home, with images splashed over all national newspaper titles and websites. Officers were photographed searching the home’s garden, with one seen carrying two spades.

Colin Beattie would then stand down as SNP treasurer following his own arrest a fortnight later. Ms Sturgeon would herself be arrested in June in connection with the same ongoing investigation into the funding and finances of the SNP.

Although all three were released without charge, pending further enquiries, the political ramifications have been difficult for the SNP to shake, particularly with Operation Branchform yet to conclude.

The SNP campervan

Less than a week later after Mr Murrell’s arrest, Mr Yousaf was again left to answer questions on what exactly he knew, after a luxury campervan was seized by police.

A Niesmann + Bischoff motorhome was taken from a house in Fife at the same time police searched the home of Ms Sturgeon.

It would later be confirmed the luxury motorhome, worth about £110,000, had been specifically seized from the driveway of Mr Murrell’s mother’s house, and had been bought using SNP funds during the pandemic to be used as a “battle bus”.

However, the campervan was never deployed after Covid restrictions were lifted, the SNP said.

Party figures have been forced to deal with a series of opposition quips, jokes and social media memes about campervans in the wake of the seizure, to drive home any further embarrassment.

Michael Matheson’s iPad scandal

The scandal surrounding former health secretary Michael Matheson would end up playing out over almost three months, before leading to the minister’s eventual resignation earlier this month, in another unedifying series of events for the SNP.

Mr Matheson’s resignation was the culmination of months of negative headlines over a huge data roaming bill incurred on his Holyrood-issued iPad during a family holiday to Morocco over Christmas 2022. The cost was initially picked up by the taxpayer, but Mr Matheson agreed to reimburse it after an outcry.

In an emotional statement in Holyrood in mid November, Mr Matheson later revealed the bill was the result of his teenage sons using the parliamentary device as a hotspot to watch football. Mr Matheson said he had only discovered the truth the week before and had kept quiet to protect his children.

However, he was accused of misleading journalists after having denied there was any personal use of the device.

Mr Yousaf stuck by his senior minister up until the resignation, but has again faced questions over his political judgement, with his leadership described as “weak” by opposition parties.

Neil Gray has since been appointed as the Scottish Government’s new health secretary under a Cabinet reshuffle, but polling appears to suggest events have already had a damaging impact on Mr Yousaf and the SNP.

UK Covid Inquiry

As the UK Covid Inquiry moved north and into a base at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre for three weeks, so the attention turned to the conduct of Ms Sturgeon and the Scottish Government during the Covid pandemic.

The evidence left as many questions as answers, with certain revelations proving humbling for the former first minister and national clinical director Jason Leitch.

Ms Sturgeon officially confirmed she had deleted all WhatsApp messages sent during the Covid pandemic, although she claimed the app was not used to conduct government business and that she “rarely” used the service regardless.

However, messages that emerged during inquiry evidence appeared to contradict that, with Ms Sturgeon and her former chief of staff Liz Lloyd discussing how many guests to allow at weddings and funerals in WhatsApp message exchanges, which the Tories said proved “Covid decisions were unquestionably made on WhatsApp”.

Ms Sturgeon at one point fought back tears at the inquiry as she admitted “a large part” of her wished she was never first minister during the pandemic.

But even that moment came in for criticism, with Scottish secretary Alister Jack claiming the former first minister “could cry from one eye if she wanted to” as he suggested Ms Sturgeon had used the pandemic to underline the case for Scottish independence.

Prof Leitch – a central figure in Government communications throughout the pandemic – was also criticised as some of the WhatsApp message exchanges he was involved in came to light.

A message from Prof Leitch was shown to the inquiry in which he said deleting WhatsApp messages was a “pre-bed ritual” – a comment the Government’s senior clinical adviser would later describe as “a flippant exaggeration”.

Prof Leitch also accused one MSP of "harrumphing like a child" and called another a "smarta*se" in private WhatsApp messages with Mr Yousaf.

Mr Yousaf also did not escape scrutiny, with message exchanges in which he admitted to “winging it” in his new role, just days after being appointed health secretary at the time.

The three weeks of evidence did little to dispel criticism over perceived levels of secrecy adopted by the Government – and left Mr Yousaf with another tag to try and shed between now and the looming general election.

Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election

While the phrase ‘political earthquake’ may be exaggerated in terms of the results from the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election, the ramifications certainly caused tremors within SNP ranks.

The SNP faced their first electoral test in October last year since Ms Sturgeon’s resignation after a recall petition was successful against former SNP MP Margaret Ferrier, who breached coronavirus lockdown rules.

The SNP’s candidate, Katy Loudon, battled against Labour’s Michael Shanks for the Westminster seat – and the vote was galling for Scotland’s governing party.

Mr Shanks won the by-election by more than double the votes of his SNP opponent. The Labour candidate received 17,845 votes to second placed Ms Loudon’s 8,399, with the swing of 20.4 per cent from the SNP to Labour a tough defeat for Mr Yousaf to swallow.

Mr Yousaf said the result meant his party had to “reflect” on regaining the trust of voters.

Stephen Flynn, SNP leader at Westminster, said the party needed to learn from the loss "quickly". "We can't shy away from the fact this is a very challenging set of results," he said.