NICOLA Sturgeon shocked followers when she confirmed her split from her husband Peter Murrell – but the signs were there that all was not well.
The former First Minister, who had been in a relationship with the ex-SNP chief exec for 22 years, revealed they had officially broken up today.
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While the split may come as a shock to many, Ms Sturgeon said the pair have been secretly separated “for some time”.
And eagle-eyed followers would have noticed something amiss between them over the last few years.
Here are some of the biggest signs that Ms Sturgeon and Mr Murrell had secretly spit…
NOT PICTURED TOGETHER
The pair have not been pictured together since April 2023.
READ MORE NICOLA STURGEON
They had rarely been spotted together since Mr Murrell stood down from his post amid a storm during the party leadership contest in March 2023 about false details being issued by his party HQ.
And were last pictured leaving their home in a black car, with Mr Murrell driving and Ms Sturgeon in the passenger seat.
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HIDING RING FINGER
Ms Sturgeon was spotted at the annual Diva Awards with pal Val McDermid without her wedding ring.
The former First Minister posed for pictures last April but clasped her hand in a bid to conceal her dazzler.
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In a similar stunt, she clenched her fist as she posed for a pic with showbiz pal Alan Cumming.
Elsewhere the ex-FM blatantly kept her hand in her pocket while chatting to reporters outside her Glasgow home.
It comes after scores of journalists flooded her street as Ms Sturgeon broke her silence on a probe into SNP finances.
FALLOUT RUMOURS
The announcement comes after Nicola Sturgeon was forced to repeatedly defend her marriage from split rumours.
Just 15 months ago, Ms Sturgeon insisted she would be married to Mr Murrell “for a long time to come”.
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In October 2023, she said her marriage remains strong during a deeply personal interview.
In a podcast interview with TV presenter and former Tory MP Gyles Brandreth, she said: “We’re still married and we will be married for a long time to come.”
And it wasn’t the first time that Ms Sturgeon publicly defended the ‘power couple’.
Three months prior she rubbished any idea that their marriage was on the rocks, telling an audience it’s “not something anyone should worry about”.
At an Edinburgh Fringe event in August 2023, interviewer Iain Dale asked her what impact the probe was having on her marriage.
At the time, she said she “chooses to talk about happier things” with Mr Murrell.
She added: “My marriage is not something anyone should worry about.”
In April that year, she dismissed rumours around her sexuality, including one that she had an affair with a female French diplomat.
One rumour that did the rounds – denied by government aides as far back as 2018 – was that Sturgeon was leaving Murrell and buying a house in Stirlingshire once owned by Andy Murray’s mum Judy. This was untrue.
In the years that followed, various forms of this tale – embellished with claims about Sturgeon leading a double life – came to journalists time and again.
In 2020, the then First Minister told how she’d heard them all when asked in an interview about a “caravan of rumours” about her private life, saying: “This sort of exotic double life that I’m supposedly leading is a damn sight more interesting than the actual life I’m leading.
“It does not have a scintilla of truth or basis in reality. It is just so completely off the wall.”
Timeline of Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell’s relationship
1988: Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell first meet at an SNP youth event.
2003: Then-Glasgow list MSP Ms Sturgeon and SNP chief executive Mr Murrell begin their relationship.
July 16, 2010: The couple tie the knot with a ceremony at the Oran Mor in Glasgow’s west end.
April 2, 2023: Ms Sturgeon claims online rumours and the need to seek more privacy was “part of the reason” for her resignation as First Minister.
April 5, 2023: The home of the couple, near Glasgow, is searched by police, with a separate raid on the SNP’s Edinburgh HQ, as part of their investigation into the party’s finances. Peter Murrell is arrested and quizzed by cops for 12 hours before being released without charge.
April 8, 2023: A £110,000 luxury motorhome is seized by cops from outside the home of Mr Murrell’s mother.
April 28, 2023: Ms Sturgeon and Mr Murrell are spotted for the first time since the raid on their Uddingston home. She dismisses rumours around her sexuality, including one that she had an affair with a female French diplomat.
June 11, 2023: Police Scotland officers arrest Ms Sturgeon and take her for questioning as part of their probe into SNP finances. She is released without charge and insists that she is innocent of any wrongdoing.
August 10, 2023: At the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Ms Sturgeon rubbishes claims her marriage is in trouble, telling an audience: “My marriage is not something anyone should worry about”.
October 1, 2023: During a podcast, Ms Sturgeon insists her marriage is not on the rocks. She says: “We are still married and will be married for a long time to come”.
April 18, 2024: Mr Murrell is re-arrested by cops and is charged with embezzlement in connection with the investigation into SNP finances.
April 26, 2024: Ms Sturgeon spotted at the annual Diva Awards with pal Val McDermid in London without her wedding ring.
December 2024: Ms Sturgeon says she is in the dark about the ongoing police investigation, adding: “I am just getting on with my life as best I can at the moment.”
January 11, 2025: During an interview with the Financial Times, Ms Sturgeon says politics was “all-consuming for a long, long time”, having been married to Mr Murrell for over a decade.
January 13, 2025: In a social media post, Nicola Sturgeon announces the end of her marriage to Peter Murrell and says they have been separated for “some time”.
Ms Sturgeon revealed as part of an interview for a book in 2016 that she and Mr Murrell suffered a miscarriage aged 40, shortly before the 2011 Holyrood election.
At the time she said: “This was obviously a painful experience for Peter and I.
“Sometimes, for whatever reason, having a baby just doesn’t happen – no matter how much we might want it to.”
In 2023 during an appearance on Loose Women, the ex-SNP leader said how she attended a memorial service while still having a miscarriage.
She said: “If you go online and Google, you can find a photograph of me at an event, actually while I’m still having a miscarriage, a public commemoration for a disaster that happened many decades ago in Scotland.
“Looking at me, looking at that photograph now, it’s clear I’m in a lot of pain.”
DOUBLE LIFE RUMOURS
There was a claim Sturgeon was having an affair with a female French diplomat, which she ended up denying to the BBC.
Read more on the Scottish Sun
In 2020, the then First Minister told how she’d heard them all when asked in an interview about a “caravan of rumours” about her private life, saying: “This sort of exotic double life that I’m supposedly leading is a damn sight more interesting than the actual life I’m leading.
“It does not have a scintilla of truth or basis in reality. It is just so completely off the wall.”
NAT’S IT OVER
Comment by Scottish Sun Associate Editor Chris Musson
THE thing about soap operas is they rarely end, unless they’re axed due to dismal viewing figures.
The SNP psychodrama has been in full flow now for nearly eight years, ever since Alex Salmond signed up with Vladimir Putin’s TV channel Russia Today in 2017 and Nicola Sturgeon went ballistic.
Then came the Scottish Government probe into women’s allegations against Salmond, and the pair quickly turned from closest allies to mortal enemies.
Earlier today, the SNP spectacle took another twist as Sturgeon thrust herself back into the limelight with the announcement that her marriage to Peter Murrell is over.
Many viewers will of course have been aware of rumours – some dating back many years – that this twist was on its way.
Indeed, over the past decade, there has been claim after claim about Ms Sturgeon’s private life, some of which we could not print, and some of which were debunked.
As journalists, we must verify claims, and there are of course laws to follow.
In the Wild West of social media, many people have no such qualms.
There have been claims since around 2017 that Sturgeon and Murrell had split, but time and again, they were denied.
Read more HERE
