Murray Foote starts his new job as SNP chief executive

This is the first time in more than two decades the party has had a new chief executive

Murray Foote will officially start his new job as the SNP’s chief executive today.

He will take over from Mike Russell, who has been serving as the party’s interim chief executive for the past few months, as of Monday.

This comes after both Mr Foote and the party’s former chief executive Peter Murrell resigned earlier this year during the SNP leadership race.

Officers from Police Scotland outside the headquarters of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in Edinburgh following the arrest of former chief executive Peter Murrell. Tackling the party's finances will be one of Murray Foote's early jobs as the new chief executive. Picture: PA

When the appointment was first announced, Mr Foote said: “I am delighted to take up this important role and look forward to helping build the campaign for independence, both by strengthening the SNP’s headquarter functions and supporting the party’s formidable organisation across Scotland.”

One of the biggest tasks for Mr Foote will be improving transparency in the wake of the ongoing police investigation into party finances. This investigation has seen Nicola Sturgeon, Mr Murrell and Colin Beattie MSP all arrested, although all three were later released without charge.

Mr Foote is a former editor of the Daily Record. From February 2020 to March 2023, he was the head of communication and research for the SNP, based in Holyrood. This will be the first time in more than two decades the party has had a new man at the helm.

Earlier this year The Sunday Mail reported the party’s membership had dropped by 30,000. Mr Foote tweeted to say the story was “drivel” and the figures quoted in the newspaper article were false.

Murray Foote

However, over the course of the SNP leadership race it was revealed membership had in fact fallen from almost 104,000 to 72,186. In his resignation statement, Mr Foote said he had made the comments in “good faith”.

Only hours after this resignation Mr Murrell, the husband of former first minister Ms Sturgeon, also resigned as chief executive.

First Minister Humza Yousaf said: “Murray will bring a great wealth of experience and talent to the role of chief executive of the SNP.

“I’m delighted to have him on board as we look to strengthen the SNP headquarters, empower our incredible activists across Scotland and build a winning campaign for independence.”