Nicola Sturgeon: My arrest was 'horrific' and part of me 'closed down'

ITV News

3 hours ago

Scotland's former first minister Nicola Sturgeon has described the day she was arrested as 'horrific' and 'the worst day of her life.'
In an exclusive interview with ITV News, ahead of the release of her memoir, Frankly, Sturgeon talks about the day of her arrest, telling Julie Etchingham, "I think a part of me just closed down."
She also described the "horror, upset and shame" of her husband's arrest in April 2023.
In a wide-ranging and frank discussion, the former first minister also expressed regret in her handling of transgender legislation during her time in office, admitting she should have 'paused' the legislation when the debate became polarised.
She writes in her book, 'I have never considered sexuality, my own included, to be binary,' adding that she was 'enjoying being her own person for a while'.
Over the past few years, the Scottish National Party has been embroiled in a financial scandal.
This resulted in a police investigation examining criminal wrongdoing around the SNP's finances, named Operation Branchform. On April 5 2023, Peter Murrell, Sturgeon's then husband and SNP chief executive, was arrested by Police Scotland at the couple's Glasgow home in connection with Operation Branchform.
Nicola Sturgeon was herself arrested on June 11 in connection with the same investigation.
She would later be cleared of all charges, but her husband, from whom she's now separated, would go on to be charged with embezzlement, events she described as "horrific".
The former first minister told ITV News' Julie Etchingham that she had 'blocked out' the details of her husband's arrest at their family home.
Sturgeon said she still found it difficult to articulate how she felt seeing her husband arrested.
'It wasn't until I got to mum and dad's that I saw the pictures of my house looking like a murder scene, effectively,' she said.
'I had this sense of horror, upset, and the kind of shame of it all.'
'I think part of me just closed down,' she said.
Her time in office was not without its share of difficulties, either.
Towards the end of Sturgeon's tenure, she introduced legislation aimed at making it easier for transgender people to self-identify their gender, without a medical diagnosis.
But the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill went on to spark a 'divisive" and at times 'toxic' debate over gender identity, eventually leading to April's Supreme Court ruling against the Scottish government on the issue.
ITV News asked the former FM how she felt about the fact that the fallout of the debate around her reforms may have made things worse for the lives of transgender people across the UK.
'When this was first mooted, it was not the divisive, toxic, controversial issue it became,' explained Sturgeon.
Reflecting on the shape the debate took, however, she signalled some regret, admitting she should have 'taken a step back' and 'paused' the legislation.
She nevertheless added: 'I fervently believe that the rights of women and the interests of trans people are not irreconcilable at all. I should have taken a step back and said, 'How do we achieve this?'"
In a personal revelation, Sturgeon writes in her book:' I have never considered sexuality, my own included, to be binary.'
Expanding, she described it to ITV News as 'just [her] view of the world, and life, and the way people are.'
She went on to clarify, 'If you're about to ask me, 'Am I making some big revelation?' No. 'Am I putting labels on myself?' No, I'm just… that's how I see the world.'
Whilst the former first minister didn't rule out the possibility of a relationship with a woman, she added: 'Look, I'm just out of a marriage, so I'm not rushing into a relationship with anyone anytime soon.
'I'm enjoying being my own person for a while.'