SNP chief executive Peter Murrell resigns with immediate effect
Departure of Murrell, husband of Nicola Sturgeon, comes day after media chief quit amid membership numbers row
The chief executive of the Scottish National party has resigned with immediate effect as an escalating row over party membership figures engulfed the party’s senior echelons, prompting demands for a complete overhaul of how it carries out its internal business.
Peter Murrell, who has been chief executive since 2000 and married Nicola Sturgeon in 2010, said he had planned to step down after the leadership contest to replace his wife had concluded, but was doing so now because “my future has become a distraction from the campaign”.