Nicola Sturgeon and Colin Beattie have both passed the SNP’s internal vetting procedures to run as election candidates despite both being questioned as part of Operation Branchform.
The former first minister has so far refused to confirm if she will stand for reelection in 2026. Beattie, a former long-serving party treasurer, is likely to do so.
Both were arrested and questioned by detectives for several hours in 2023 before being released without charge, pending further inquiries.
John Swinney today insisted said he was “comfortable” with the party’s vetting procedures
“These are decisions that the party has taken through its due democratic processes, and I’m comfortable with all of those decisions,” he said after a speech in Glasgow.
The party itself refused to confirm if the pair have passed vetting despite multiple Nationalists confirming the decision to the media.
Peter Murrell, the former SNP chief executive, was arrested and charged in connection with the embezzlement of funds from the SNP in April last year.
No decision has yet been announced on whether Nicola Sturgeon’s husband will face trial.
Police Scotland presented the findings of its investigations into SNP finances to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) in August. The force has repeatedly said it is now awaiting instructions on how to proceed.
Branchform was launched by Police Scotland in July 2021 following several complaints from members of the public on how the SNP had spent donations supposedly ring-fenced for independence campaigning.
The police probe was initially focused on how cash raised in 2017 and 2019 as part of a referendum appeal was spent.
Police Scotland’s chief constable admitted in 2023 the investigation had “moved beyond” the initial inquiries of alleged fraud.
The case made UK-wide news in April 2023 when Murrell and Sturgeon’s home on the edge of Glasgow was searched over two days.
The former first minister has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
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