SNP removes Peter Murrell's motorhome from assets but party still owes him £60,000
The SNP has lost 74,000 members since 2019 as the party has endured a period of turmoil.
The SNP has removed Peter Murrell’s infamous motorhome from its assets as but the party still owes him £60,000, accounts show.
And paid-up supporters of John Swinney’s party has now slumped to just 51,000.
The figures, released in the SNP’s 2025 accounts, shows a drop in membership from 56,000 in the space of a year. In 2019, the party boasted a membership of 125,000.
The drop comes despite the accounts showing the SNP spent £17,280 on membership expenses in 2025, up from £7,551 the previous year, defined as money used “to produce recruitment materials and provide information materials to party members”.
The accounts show a surplus of £509,903 for 2025, compared to the deficit of £383,707 the previous year. The documents show that alongside no scheduled elections taking place in 2025, the improvement was “only possible thanks to some very difficult cost cutting decisions in 2024”.
It also emerged in the accounts that Murrell is still owed £60,000 from a loan he gave the party in 2021.
The figure remains on the balance sheet, but the party says Murrell has not “formally requested” the sum back.
A note in the accounts said: “There is no formal loan agreement in place, no interest is charged on the outstanding balance, and no specific repayment terms have been agreed.
“The former chief executive has not formally requested repayment of the outstanding balance.
“Due to the absence of agreed repayment terms and the lack of recent communication regarding settlement, there is uncertainty as to when, or if, this loan will be repaid to the former chief executive, and whether it may ultimately be waived or written off.”
An SNP spokesman later said that in light of Murrell’s conviction, the money will not be paid back to him.
“Our accounts show the position of the loan as of the end of 2025, since that point Mr Murrell has pled guilty to the crime of embezzling more than £400,000 from the party,” he said.
“In light of this, the party is pursuing the full recovery of the money stolen from us and will not be making any payment to Mr Murrell.”
Writing on social media, Mr Swinney said the accounts showed the “party was in a position of formidable financial strength”.
Paperwork states that the average monthly number of employees during the year was just 19, compared to 26 in 2024 before staff were made redundant as part of cuts. The party’s wage bill has been reduced from £1,173,828 in 2024 to £780,878 last year.
The documents highlight former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell’s embezzlement of more than £400,000 for which he was jailed for five years and three months.
READ MORE: John Swinney reveals 'agony' of Peter Murrell embezzlement as SNP to pursue compensation from former CEO
The published documents state the SNP is “seeking to recover from the guilty party the full amount embezzled” and stresses that “the accounts do not include any assumption of a successful outcome”.
The accounts have also removed Murrell’s now-infamous campervan from the party’s tangible assets. Last year’s accounts indicated the party spent £100,790 on the motorhome, but the value had depreciated to £41,284 as of 31 December 2024.
The latest accounts for 2025 state that due to Murrell’s embezzlement, including the vehicle, “a prior period adjustment has been made to remove the cost of the asset and associated depreciation charges, from the balance sheet to reflect the fact that the vehicle did not belong to the party”.
Party figures had previously tried to argue that the vehicle could be used as a campaign tool. Speaking to journalists in June, Mr Swinney insisted that “the SNP has no use for a motorhome”.
Posting on Bluesky, Mr Swinney said: “The publication of the SNP's accounts today shows that at the end of 2025 the party was in a position of formidable financial strength, having made a surplus of more than £500,000 over the year.
“The rebuilding of the party's finances allowed us to run a well-resourced campaign that took our positive message to every community in Scotland and made a major contribution to our historic election victory.”
Opposition parties have raised questions over the detail of the SNP’s annual accounts.
Scottish Labour acting leader, Jackie Baillie, said: “It’s no surprise the number of people willing to trust the SNP with their hard-earned cash is dwindling.
“The disappearance of the campervan raises some questions for the SNP – but not nearly as many questions as its appearance should have raised.”
Scottish Conservative finance spokesman, Craig Hoy, said: “The SNP’s latest set of accounts raise further serious questions for them.
“The fact they still technically owe the crooked Peter Murrell £60,000 is astonishing and eyebrows will also be raised at auditors highlighting the party still has a heightened risk of fraud.
“Their infamous campervan has now met its demise having more than halved in value after being Murrell’s most expensive criminal purchase.”
He added: “Questions remain over that including Nicola Sturgeon’s remarkable claims that she was unaware of it being parked in her mother-in-law’s driveway.
READ MORE: Peter Murrell's potential assets revealed in court papers after £400,000 SNP embezzlement
“If even SNP supporters are losing faith, then it is time for Swinney to ditch his independence obsession and focus on what really matters to Scots.”
Peter Grant, SNP national treasurer, said: “The publication of our annual accounts, with an unmodified, clean audit opinion, shows that the SNP entered the election year in formidable financial strength.
“Due to the sound stewardship of the party’s resources under the leadership of John Swinney we made a surplus of more than £500,000 in 2025, giving us the financial firepower to take our positive, hopeful message to every community, doorstep and device in Scotland, contributing to our historic win in May.
“Funded by overwhelmingly by the generous support from our membership, the SNP is by some margin Scotland’s largest political party. Following on from our election victory in May we will use the party’s strong financial position to put forward the positive case for independence and Scotland’s right to decide.”
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