Nicola Sturgeon has announced “with a heavy heart” that she and her husband, former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, are to end their marriage.
They had been one of the most powerful couples in UK politics, with Ms Sturgeon serving for more than eight years as Scottish first minister and SNP leader, while Mr Murrell was the chief executive of the party.
They have both been under investigation as part of a police probe into SNP finances, with officers charging Mr Murrell last year in connection with embezzlement of party funds, while the previous year Ms Sturgeon was arrested then released without charge.
The couple had tied the knot in July 2010 but, in a statement released on social media, Ms Sturgeon said that “to all intents and purposes we have been separated for some time now”.
She added she was announcing the breakdown of their relationship as it was “time to bring others up to speed with where we are”.
In a statement posted on Instagram, Ms Sturgeon said: “With a heavy heart I am confirming that Peter and I have decided to end our marriage.”
The former first minister added: “To all intents and purposes we have been separated for some time now and 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.”
She added that they would be making no further comment on the matter.
The couple have no children, though Ms Sturgeon revealed in 2016 she had suffered a miscarriage in 2011, shortly before the Holyrood election campaign, saying it was “obviously a painful experience for Peter and I”.
Ms Sturgeon and Mr Murrell, who was chief executive of the SNP for more than two decades between 1999 and 2023, first became a couple in 2003.
And, by the time they announced their engagement in January 2010, Ms Sturgeon had become Scotland’s deputy first minister.
The then first minister, Alex Salmond, and other Scottish Government cabinet colleagues were there when the couple married at Oran Mor, a converted church in Glasgow’s west end in July 2010.
Ms Sturgeon went on to become first minister when Mr Salmond resigned from the post in 2014 in the wake of the Scottish independence referendum.
However, she dramatically announced in February 2023 that she was stepping down, saying that the “time is right to make way for someone else”.
In March 2023, her husband announced he was quitting as chief executive of the party with immediate effect amid a row linked to falling membership.
The following month, police officers searched the couple’s home, in the outskirts of Glasgow, with Mr Murrell also arrested at the time as part of the Operation Branchform probe into SNP finances.
Ms Sturgeon herself was arrested as part of the investigation in June 2023 and, while both she and Mr Murrell were released without charge pending further investigation, in April last year Mr Murrell was charged in connection with embezzlement of SNP funds.
Speaking in December last year, Ms Sturgeon said she knew “nothing more” about investigation than she did when arrested in June 2023 – with the former first minister having said previously that she is “innocent of any wrongdoing”.
