A Political Bombshell, Hours Old
Kemi Badenoch has declared that Nicola Sturgeon owes answers over the scandal that sent her estranged husband to prison, speaking to the Scottish Daily Express on July 17, 2026, hours after Conservative MP David Davis used Westminster’s protected privilege to level claims about the former First Minister.
The UK Conservative leader was in Aberdeen to back the city’s oil and gas industry, joining a roundtable at NHV Helicopters in Dyce with Douglas Lumsden, the newly elected MP for Aberdeen South, and Harriet Cross, who holds Gordon and Buchan. But her sharpest words were reserved for the Scottish National Party.
The Case Behind the Words
Peter Murrell, Sturgeon’s estranged husband and the SNP’s former chief executive, was jailed for five years and three months for embezzling £400k from the party over 12 years, with the bulk of the crime committed while his wife led the party. Sturgeon has repeatedly denied any knowledge of his crimes, though the Express notes she benefitted from them through presents like designer handbags and pens, and she was never prosecuted.
Davis, protected by parliamentary privilege, accused her of “lying” about her knowledge and of trying to jail Alex Salmond to cover for Murrell, allegations her solicitor rejected in a strongly worded statement.
Badenoch’s Case for an Inquiry
Badenoch went further than most in her party. “The SNP are just a bunch of cranks. They have not delivered at all for Scotland.” She went on: “They just keep coming up with mad ideas and mad policies. And look at Nicola Sturgeon. She’s been shown to have actually done a lot of damage. And the scandal that’s engulfed the party has happened because they are not serious and focused on the priorities of the people of Scotland.”
“She still has questions to answer. There should be an inquiry. It’s a disgrace that the SNP voted against an inquiry in Holyrood, and I said if Holyrood won’t have an inquiry, Westminster should. I know that Andrew Bowie, the Shadow Scottish Secretary of State, is working to see how we can make that happen.” she said.
Asked why she believes John Swinney blocked an inquiry at the Scottish Parliament, she answered: “Well, because as always, there’s something that they don’t want people to know about. So let’s have an inquiry and find out what that is.”
Sturgeon’s solicitor, Aamer Anwar, has pointed to a “gold-plated” police investigation that ended with Murrell’s conviction as evidence she did nothing wrong. The SNP was approached for comment on Badenoch’s remarks, the paper noted, and Badenoch added that voters have grown tired of what she called the “sleaze and scandal-hit” party: “They offer no hope and no plans for the future. And what Scotland is crying out right now for is hope. And I want them to know the Conservatives want to deliver for them. We made mistakes in the past. We’ve got a new leader. We’ve got much better plans. We’ve learned the lessons of those mistakes, and we can make things better for people in Scotland and across the United Kingdom.”
