Humza Yousaf is facing astonishing demands to rerun the leadership election that put him in power in Scotland, in the wake of the arrest of Nicola Sturgeon‘s husband.
The First Minister last night lasted out at ‘conspiracy theories’ from critics who questioned whether Ms Sturgeon, his close ally, knew action was imminent against Peter Murrell when she resigned.
Mr Murrell, 58, was arrested and released on Wednesday, with police spending two days examining the family home in Glasgow, in scenes that have rocked Scottish politics.
Detectives are probing what happened to more than £600,000 in donations made to the party to fund a second independence referendum when he was chief executive.
Mr Yousaf was named the new SNP leader, and then voted in as FM after beating Kate Forbes in the leadership election last month.
But critics have questioned whether Ms Sturgeon or Mr Yousaf was aware police action was imminent when she stepped down.
Allies of the runner-up last night suggested that the election should be rerun in light of recent events, with one telling the Telegraph: ‘There has been a material change in circumstances. For people to argue it should not be re-run means the party establishment had no knowledge about this, but that is quite unbelievable.
Mr Murrell, 58, was arrested and released on Wednesday, with police spending two days examining the family home in Glasgow, in scenes that have rocked Scottish politics.
Detectives are probing what happened to more than £600,000 in donations made to the party to fund a second independence referendum when he was chief executive.
Allies of Kate Forbes last night suggested that the election should be rerun in light of recent events, with one telling the Telegraph: ‘There has been a material change in circumstances. For people to argue it should not be re-run means the party establishment had no knowledge about this, but that is quite unbelievable.’
‘People [within the SNP] will want to avoid a re-run because Kate Forbes would win, but Humza is going to be left holding this particularly ugly baby.’
Last night Mr Yousaf said claims police are ‘in cahoots’ with the SNP over the timing of Mr Murrell’s arrest are a ‘conspiracy theory’.
Speaking to media at his official residence, Bute House in Edinburgh, he said the last few days have been ‘difficult and bruising’ for the party.
But Scottish Tory constitution spokesman Donald Cameron said Mr Yousaf had not previously raised issues about governance of the party publicly, accusing him of trying to ‘distance himself’ from Peter Murrell.
‘These belated calls for transparency and about how the SNP should be run, simply will not wash,’ Mr Cameron added.
Asked if the leadership election, which concluded last week with a win for Mr Yousaf, would have been impacted by Mr Murrell’s arrest had it happened while it was taking place, Mr Yousaf said: ‘To me, that sounds like a bit of a conspiracy theory that somehow we are in cahoots with Police Scotland.
‘The timing of an investigation is absolutely for Police Scotland, that’s not determined by anybody else.’
Mr Yousaf was candid about the impact the arrest of Mr Murrell, and the sometimes testy leadership election which preceded it, would have on support for his party and for Scottish independence, but said this could present an opportunity for the ‘next generation’ of the party to shine.
‘There’s no doubt the last few weeks and the events of yesterday have been difficult and bruising for the party,’ he said.
‘But there’s also an opportunity – with a new leader in place and a new chief executive in place, generally a next generation coming through.
‘You’ve seen that with my cabinet, you’ve seen, of course, the Westminster leadership in terms of Stephen Flynn and Mhairi Black.
‘There’s a huge opportunity for us to re-energise, to refresh, and to make sure we are being as bold and as ambitious as we possibly can be for the people of Scotland.’
The First Minister also said Ms Sturgeon would not be losing the SNP whip.
