What next for the SNP? Moving out from under the Branchform shadow
Nicola Sturgeon understandably says she's relieved to no longer be the focus of a police investigation.That feeling will be shared by many in the SNP.This has been a damaging period for the party and one that senior figures accept contributed to its collapse in last year's general election.Ms Sturgeon says she's ready to move on with her life - but will her party be able to do likewise and rebuild its political fortunes?
She described Operation Branchform as a cloud which has been hanging over her for years and that is absolutely the case for her party too.It is still a difficult day - the Crown is pressing ahead with charges of embezzlement against her husband Peter Murrell, a man who was critical to the running of the SNP for 20 years.As chief executive, he played a key role in transforming it into an election-winning machine.But he is not a household name the way Ms Sturgeon is. She's arguably the most famous woman in Scotland, indelibly linked to her party.
Ms Sturgeon resigned in February 2023 and the Branchform investigation unfolded rapidly while Humza Yousaf was trying to get his feet under the table as her successor.It felt as though every time he was lining up an event or a statement to set out his leadership there would be a fresh development in Operation Branchform.That meant the public was largely introduced to Mr Yousaf as the man being doorstepped by reporters, saying things like "of course I'm surprised one of my colleagues has been arrested".The "optics" were also frankly disastrous when it came to a blue police tent being set up outside the home of Mr Murrell and Ms Sturgeon, and officers carrying stacks of boxes out of the party's HQ.The police, incidentally, will forever defend the decision to deploy that famous tent. With the suburban street jammed with photographers and camera crews, they feel they had a duty to shield their sensitive work from view.
In any case, senior figures in the party acknowledge that the investigation was a contributing factor to the huge losses they suffered in the 2024 general election.Mr Yousaf's self-inflicted exit from office, via a row with the Greens, was another. And then there was the UK-wide context of Labour sweeping the Tories from office.But these have also provided the chance for a clean break under John Swinney.He was extremely close politically and personally to Ms Sturgeon. As both SNP leader and first minister, he will hope Thursday's news is a chance to move on.He has already begun to rebuild the SNP's position in the polls, helped by Labour's struggles in adapting to government at Westminster.It has helped that he has not been dogged by daily updates from Operation Branchform the way his predecessor was. Mr Swinney has had a clearer shot at setting the agenda on his own terms.He's now hoping to head into the 2026 Scottish election campaign without constant questions about police inquiries. Ms Sturgeon is not even a candidate.And while being very careful of the legalities, he's also starting to reframe this from something which potentially, allegedly, happened within the SNP to something which potentially, allegedly, happened to it.The SNP has, in its decades in power, proved to be a master of reinvention.From a group happy to do budget deals with the Tories under Alex Salmond, to one allied with lefty Greens under Ms Sturgeon. Mr Swinney will hope he can craft yet another new - post-Sturgeon - identity, in order to retain power next year.
Today was a reminder that, even in an investigation which has been running for four years now, sometimes things unfold very quickly.Just over a week ago Nicola Sturgeon was announcing that she was going to step down from Holyrood next year, closing a 27-year chapter of her life.On Tuesday she released the cover and title of her memoirs, realising her lifelong dream of becoming an author.The fact she can now look ahead to publication day without this investigation hanging over her will be an enormous relief.But there is still a way to go for her estranged husband, and by extension her party.The case against Mr Murrell is going ahead, and remains of huge significance - the allegation of embezzlement by the chief executive of the party of government is obviously a serious one.His marriage to Ms Sturgeon is over, but she will still of course be feeling the impact of this - not least due to the prospect of a potential trial where she could be called as a witness.It remains to be seen where the case goes from here. Mr Murrell has not yet made any plea or declaration, nor would he be expected to at this stage in the legal process.The Crown theoretically has 18 months to move the case along to the next stage, so it is entirely possible this drags out beyond next May's Holyrood election.Ms Sturgeon is keenly looking forward to a new chapter. But it may be months or even years before the book is finally closed on Operation Branchform.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
34 minutes ago
- The Sun
‘Crass' cops slammed for playing ‘snog, marry, kill' with mugshots of local call girls and felons
LAYING 'snog, marry, avoid' with colleagues at work could be sexual harassment, a tribunal has ruled. The 'crass' and 'inappropriate' game may breach the Equality Act, an Employment judge said. The risqué quiz involves naming three people and then asking a person to pick which one you would like to kiss, which one you would get married to and which one you would steer clear of altogether. In the BBC hit comedy Gavin and Stacey, Pam, Mick, Gavin and Smithy played a version of it featuring celebrities during a car ride from Essex to Wales. However, the tribunal found it may break workplace laws. The ruling came in the case of a police officer who sued Derbyshire Police after a female colleague involved him in the game — using mugshots of sex workers. The officer candidly admitted to the tribunal that she had 'jokingly' played the game with co-workers and included PC Shafarat Mohammed in their discussion. PC Mohammed claimed that during the discussion in May or June 2022 he was only shown images of black women and was asked what he liked about one of them. He said he was 'embarrassed' and 'offended' by the questioning and felt it was inappropriate. The tribunal judge said: 'We agree that the questions were inappropriate.' However, the tribunal found there was no racial or religious element to it as the sex workers were of varying ethnicities. PC Mohammed lost his case for racial and religious discrimination and harassment. Two top cops accused of mocking a colleague's Irish accent in 'grossly offensive' leaving video 1
The Independent
43 minutes ago
- The Independent
Bull on the loose charges through streets of Birmingham
A bull on the loose charged around parts of Birmingham for several hours on Friday. Shocked residents and passers-by took footage of the animal, and traffic in New Bond Street was brought to a halt. A police officer was seen chasing after the bull, before council staff eventually helped officers corner it. The black bull was first spotted at 9.30am near New Bond Street, Digbeth, about a mile from the centre of the city, which is famous for its Bullring shopping area. The animal then charged past Small Heath railway station, towards traffic. John Cooper, who works at the station, told BirminghamLive: 'I had to go for another look and thought 'oh god, it's a bull'. 'It was quite a shock – I didn't know to react. It was a first for me.' During the afternoon, West Midlands Police officers and Birmingham city council employees together guided the bull into an old Dunelm building, where animal-welfare officers were called in. Social-media users called for the animal to be rescued and protected. No one knew where the bull had come from, and council officials were trying to track down its owner. Councillor Majid Mahmood said: 'This magnificent animal seemed to be enjoying an unexpected city break but our amazing street cleansing staff weren't phased at all, helping move it into a safe place.'
Daily Mail
43 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Reform Civil War: Now Richard Tice says chairman who quit was WRONG to oppose burka ban
Nigel Farage 's deputy has said he is 'enormously sad' that Reform's chairman resigned – but insisted he was wrong to oppose a burka ban. Richard Tice said Zia Yusuf, who plunged Reform into chaos after resigning on Thursday, had worked 'incredibly hard' and helped the party win hundreds of council seats in last month's local elections. But he insisted that banning the burka was right because the Islamic veil is 'a repressive item of clothing'. However, Downing Street said Sir Keir Starmer did not support a ban, with a spokesman saying: 'This Government does not believe in mandating what people should or shouldn't wear in public.' Mr Yusuf's departure came just hours after he hit out at one of Reform's own MPs for a 'dumb' question in the House of Commons about banning the burka. He publicly questioned why Sarah Pochin, Reform's recently elected MP for Runcorn and Helsby, had challenged Sir Keir about the issue in the Commons on Wednesday when a ban is not official party policy. In a post on X/Twitter on Thursday morning, he said: 'I do think it's dumb for a party to ask the PM if they would do something the party itself wouldn't do.' By the evening he had resigned, saying he no longer felt that working with Mr Farage to try to win the next election was 'a good use of my time'. Asked about his departure yesterday, Mr Tice, Reform's deputy leader, said: 'I'm enormously sad that Zia has resigned. He's worked incredibly hard. I've sent him a message of thanks.' Asked if he agreed with Mr Yusuf that the party should not pledge to ban the burka, he added: 'No, I don't. 'The reality is that I think it is right that we should have a debate about whether or not the burka is appropriate in a nation that's founded in Christianity, where women are equal citizens and should not be viewed as second-class citizens. 'If we're a great democracy that believes in free speech, let's have a calm and respectful debate.' Asked by the BBC Radio 4's Today programme if he supported a ban, he added: 'Yeah, I'm pretty concerned about whether or not the burka is essentially a sort of repressive item of clothing, whether women have the choice.' Wearing face-covering clothes is currently banned in seven European countries – France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria and Bulgaria – while other countries have enacted partial bans. His resignation comes after Great Yarmouth MP Rupert Lowe was kicked out of Reform in March for criticising Mr Farage's leadership. Mr Yusuf also clashed with Mr Lowe and said he made verbal threats of violence against him. Mr Lowe always denied the allegations and was later cleared by Scotland Yard after Mr Yusuf reported the incident. Labour and SNP 'terrified' after Reform's poll surge By David Churchill, Chief Political Correspondent Reform claimed Labour and the SNP were in a 'coalition of the terrified' after the party notched up a staggering 26 per cent of the vote in a Scottish by-election. Reform deputy leader, Richard Tice made the jibe yesterday after coming third in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse Holyrood by-election. While Labour's candidate Davy Russell won the contest with 8,559 votes (31.6 per cent), the SNP came second with 7,957 (29.4 per cent). This was followed by Reform with 7,088 (26.2 per cent), meaning they came within 1,500 votes of winning. The leading pollster professor Sir John Curtice said the result showed Reform also posed a serious threat to Labour north of the border. Last week, SNP Scottish First Minister John Swinney accused Reform leader Nigel Farage of being 'fundamentally racist'.
