Nicola Sturgeon allows TV glimpse into home life - The Scotsman Nicola Sturgeon allows TV glimpse into home life Stills from a STV Spotlight interview with Nicola Sturgeon and her husband Peter Murrell. Picture: STV 00:00 Friday 24 April 2015 Have your say NICOLA Sturgeon and her husband Peter Murrell last night gave a rare glimpse into their private life when they were asked about their lack of children, her fashion choices and what it is like to be Scotland’s first female First Minister. In an interview with STV’s Spotlight programme, Ms Sturgeon was also asked about her relationship with her predecessor Alex Salmond. The couple gave a rare glimpse of their private life. Picture: STV Ms Sturgeon denied that Mr Salmond was still pulling the strings in the SNP, but said she can always go to him for advice. She contrasted their positive relationship with the “dysfunctional” one between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Ms Sturgeon said there was “an understandable curiosity” about the couple’s family life, but added that Alex Salmond was rarely asked about his lack of children.

Mr Murrell, the SNP’s chief executive, added that his wife gets asked a lot of questions that would not be asked of a man. Ms Sturgeon said: “Alex Salmond doesn’t have children. He might tell you differently, but I’m not aware of reading an interview or seeing an interview with Alex Salmond being asked that question.” She added: “I’m not moaning about this, but it’s just one of these things that I think is just a bit different if you’re a woman in politics.” Mr Murrell added: “It’s just one of those questions that a female politician gets asked. A man would never get asked about clothes or hair or something else. It’s just different.” The couple were shown in Totty Rocks, a fashion store that supplies Ms Sturgeon with outfits. Now SNP’s Peter Murrell asked to explain his role in Walker scandal | The Times Now SNP’s Peter Murrell asked to explain his role in Walker scandal Google+ 1 of 2 Photograph: James Glossop for The Times Bill Walker MSP leaves Edinburgh Sheriff Court after being found guilty of charges against him of domestic abuse.

22-08-2013 Times photographer, James Glossop 2 of 2 Lindsay McIntosh Scottish Political Correspondent Published at 12:01AM, September 10 2013 The SNP’s chief executive was last night embroiled in the Bill Walker scandal with calls for him to come clean over his role in the wife beater’s selection as a party candidate for Holyrood. Opposition politicians demanded that Peter Murrell — the husband of Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP’s deputy leader and Deputy First Minister — explain what he knew about Walker’s 30-year campaign of domestic abuse and when he knew it. Mr Murrell is the SNP’s most senior official and enjoys a reputation as one of the effective political party managers in the country. He runs the party HQ in Edinburgh which Subscribe now To see the full article you need to subscribe Subscribe Login Bill Walker’s public relations man sparked a scandal of his own yesterday when he issued a statement attacking one of the MSP’s victims only to withdraw it a few hours later (Lindsay McIntosh writes).

Iain Maciver, who says he specialises in crisis PR, suggested that Diana Walker was "enjoying the limelight" surrounding Walker’s conviction for domestic assault and questioned why she did not leave him sooner. The statement, which was widely circulated, provoked disbelief among opposition politicians who rushed to condemn it. Mr Maciver then issued a follow-up which said: "Mr Bill Walker did not write that statement. He left it to me to clarify matters about their divorce and the result is all my fault. "I apologise to Diana Walker who absolutely did not deserve those silly comments and criticism." He suggested that he had sent it out erroneously because he was "running late". He had issued Walker’s resignation statement on Saturday afternoon and the disgraced former MSP confirmed that Mr Maciver was authorised to act as his media spokesman. Before they were withdrawn, Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader, described the comments as "a disgusting coda to a shameful set of actions" and added: "No victim of abuse should be in any doubt: it is never the ‘wrong time’ to leave your abuser, as this statement seems to claim.

You will not be judged and there is support out there." Convicting Mr Walker, Sheriff Kathrine Mackie said: "I would observe that why a woman stays in or returns to an abusive relationship is a complex issue not easily understood by the rational observer. It does not in my opinion mean that that woman’s evidence of the relationship necessarily lacks credibility." She also said: "I found all the Crown witnesses, and in particular the three principal complainers, credible and reliable." Sponsored Editorial Pancreatic Cancer UK, London (Central), London (Greater), See job description Search Form Aston Martin Vanquish 2+2 volcano red with winter wheat leather Search Form Nicola Sturgeon: Who is she and what is the story behind politics' woman of the hour? | The Independent Nicola Sturgeon: Who is she and what is the story behind politics' woman of the hour?

“Nippy sweetie”, Borgen fan and legal brain – inside the mind of the SNP’s Deputy Minister Wednesday 24 September 2014 16:41 BST Click to follow The Independent Online The putative date announced by Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon marks the anniversary of both the Union of the Crowns in 1603 and of the signing of the Acts of Union in 1707 PA Now, with Alex Salmond having handed in his resignation last week, Sturgeon is unarguably the frontrunner for his job . "His are big boots to fill, but if given the opportunity to lead, I will wear my own shoes - and they will certainly have higher heels," she said. "I will be my own person and set my own course." Her political career has been steady. She became a member of the SNP at just 16 and entered politics when she was 29 as a Glasgow regional MSP. Following the resignation of John Swinney in 2004, she pledged to stand as SNP leader, but withdrew when "mentor" Alex Salmond entered the runnings.

Instead, she was invited to join him as his deputy, forming a double act that led to her becoming Deputy First Minister in 2007 and Salmond First Minister. Sturgeon with former boss Alex Salmond She is known for being a serious, sensible individual, who is famously private. Here is all you need to know about Nicola Sturgeon: Law came first, politics followed... Sturgeon studied law at Glasgow University, before working as a solicitor at the city's Drumchapel Law Centre. She was elected as a Glasgow regional MSP at Holyrood Parliament when she 29. She is literally married to the SNP... Her husband Peter Murrell is the current chief executive of the SNP. The couple got married in 2010 and live together in Glasgow, having met at an SNP youth weekend in Aberdeenshire which Murrell had organised. "Being in the same kind of line of work has its up sides and its down sides," she told The Daily Record in 2012. "The up side is that Peter understands what’s going on and why I am late home all the time. "The down side is that you just end up talking about it all the time and you never leave it outside.

But I think we manage OK." In pictures: Alex Salmond's campaign for Scottish independence 9/9 The campaign for independence Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond presents the White Paper for Scottish independence Getty Images She was given the unfortunate nickname of "nippy sweetie"… …For being too serious in the earlier stages of the career. However, she handled the title with aplomb by jovially handing out sweets to journalists at her 2004 manifesto. Fiona Hyslop, long-term SNP activist and Scotland's culture secretary – described her as “guarded” “very sensible - but good fun”. Sturgeon and actor Alan Cumming outside the Yes Kelvin campaign hub in Glasgow in the build-up to the Scottish referendum Her handling of the 2009 swine flu crisis in Scotland gave rise to her cool, collected reputation... "That was quite scary," she – as then SNP health secretary - admitted in 2012. "We might have been facing something that was absolutely catastrophic – the first cases were up here and the first people who died were here, and we were very much in the eye of that storm. You just didn’t know what you were dealing with.

"At the beginning I was wondering if I could cope, but you do – you get on with it. But it’s probably the hardest thing I’ve had to deal with." She can relate to the lead of Borgen, who becomes the first female prime minister of Denmark... No hidden agenda there then. In 2013, Sturgeon even interviewed actress Sidse Babett Knudsen, who plays the Danish show’s lead - fictional Prime Minister Birgitte Nyborg - for STV's Scotland Tonight. Sturgeon makes her SNP leader candidacy bid in September 2014 She was inspired by Margaret Thatcher... Growing up in North Ayrshire town of Irvine in 1970, she was influenced to enter politics by Britain’s female Prime Minister. "Thatcher was prime minister, the economy wasn't in great shape, lots of people around me were looking at a life or an immediate future of unemployment and I think that certainly gave me a strong sense of social justice and, at that stage, a strong feeling that it was wrong for Scotland to be governed by a Tory government that we hadn't elected." She is far from a domestic goddess... "I don’t cook," she said in 2012.

"Dinner would be interesting if I was to try to cook it. I have had lots of disasters and I now prefer not to try, but Peter is a good cook and he enjoys it. I am hopeless." Sturgeon on her wedding day with husband Peter Murrell in 2010 She finds the hardest aspect of being a woman in politics is the scrutiny on how she dresses... "Everyone has an opinion on what you wear and how you look that guys just don’t have to put up with at all," she told The Daily Record. "It’s important in politics to look professional, but you’ve got to be comfortable, too. I’m not naturally a smart-dressing type. I’m more at home in jeans. I don’t think about party affiliations when it comes to colour. The SNP colours are yellow and black, but they’re really difficult to wear. "My favourite colour is red, and if I wear that someone will definitely say to me, 'Those are Labour colours.' But I like red and Labour doesn’t own it." But, however, she does love buying shoes... "My passion for shoes and books make walking down the high street in Edinburgh difficult," she moaned.

"I am always buying shoes – not too expensive, though, because I am very hard on them. I blame it on the cobbles in Edinburgh." Sturgeon and former boss Alex Salmond campaigning together. Even Alex Salmond admits she’s helped toned down his “bruiser”... "She's given me some pretty stern advice on that occasionally,” he said on Woman’s Hour. "Lots and lots of male politicians can forget that there's a bit more to politics and life than enjoying the cut and thrust of debate - and Nicola's a very strong corrector sometimes of my love of the cut and thrust." She gamely completed the ice bucket challenge... Sturgeon was nominated by her then-boss Alex Salmond. She put forward Nick Clegg, Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont and her colleague, Scottish Sports Secretary Shona Robison - the latter two of whom accepted. At home with Nicola Sturgeon (From HeraldScotland) Jobs Business Directory Local Info Dating Buy Sell Book an Ad At home with Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Sturgeon is taking charge of an SNP whose membership has more than trebled since the referendum on September 18.

Photograph: Mark Mainz / Cate Devine , Food Writer and Columnist The woman soon to become the most powerful in Scotland opens the door of her Glasgow home with a wan smile. It's a sunny November Saturday morning, the neighbours are out and about, and she's still on a high after receiving a standing ovation from 2000 supporters at last night's sell-out rally in Dundee. "Come in," she beams. "Peter's got the coffee on." Loading article content As Nicola Sturgeon pads in her stocking soles through to the lounge of the modern detached home she shares with Peter Murrell, her husband of four years and the SNP's chief executive, she looks remarkably relaxed and happy, though I detect a hint of fatigue beneath her flawless makeup. After the gruelling independence referendum campaign, the very idea of embarking on a series of political rallies across the country would be enough to floor the strongest man. But not, apparently, the pint-sized Sturgeon. Elected unopposed yesterday as leader of her party at age 44, she is due to become the first female First Minister of Scotland on Wednesday following Alex Salmond's resignation on Tuesday.

By the glint in her eye it's clear she's enjoying making political history: the scale of her sell-out tour is unprecedented in modern UK politics - 20,000 tickets were snapped up within hours of their launch - and it culminates with her appearance before an audience of 13,000 at the Hydro in Glasgow next weekend. Doesn't she find it exhausting? "This is the thing I most enjoy about my job, and when you love what you do adrenalin keeps you going," she says. "Standing in front of an audience, feeling the energy, is what it's all about. I could stay on stage and do that for hours." (It was a similar story at the Corn Exchange in Edinburgh the week before, and the Eden Court in Inverness a few days after our meeting; T-shirts bearing slogans such as Sturgeon: The Tour are selling out.) Scotland's first rock-star politician - who, I am reliably informed, once favoured Doc Martens and the punk look in the mid-1980s - says it's not the adulation she thrives on, but the connection with the people.

"Put aside that it's me doing it, the fact we got 2000 people talking politics on a Friday night in Dundee is incredible," she says. "Questions range from the NHS, jobs, fracking, what next after the referendum. For me, the vibrancy of a new democracy in Scotland is electric and it's carried by the momentum from the referendum. People who had never had any interest in politics before are really engaged." The SNP has tripled its membership to more than 80,000 following the referendum, making it the third largest political party in the UK. Which means the baton she is about to receive from Salmond carries considerably more weight than might have been assumed after September 18's No vote. "I feel a responsibility," she says. "We have got to harness and keep hold of that engagement, repay the trust that people are putting into the democratic process. You might say the increased membership will be difficult to manage, but I see a massive opportunity to change things, to close the gap between the people and the politicians. I hope it changes the way politics are done in this country.

I want new members to encourage others in their community and workplace to join." If that sounds like a new evangelism, she's unrepentant. "If your pal or neighbour is in the SNP you're more likely to listen to them than if you just turn on the telly and see me or Alex. The growth of membership is building a politically engaged community base that hasn't been there in my lifetime." Sturgeon has pledged to be the most accessible First Minister since the Scottish Parliament was founded in 1999, and plans a monthly Facebook question and answer session with members of the public to bring them closer to the political process. That is also unprecedented, and marks another of the differences between Sturgeon and Salmond, her political partner of 10 years. "I'm a different personality from Alex, though I've made a conscious decision that I'm not going into the job thinking of what makes me different from him. Everybody knows my relationship with him is fantastic and I'd never criticise what he has done. I'm not going to rip all that up just to demonstrate that I'm not him. But the differences will become obvious." Being an enthusiastic user of Facebook and Twitter is one of them.

"Social media is natural to me, and it's a very immediate way of saying something. It's the way politics are done these days. In modern politics you can't ignore that even if you wanted to. I can't imagine doing politics without it." The only indication of this in her pristine home is the iPad which lies charging on a table. "Having said that, its immediacy is also one of its problems. You have got to be careful, because the temptation is to speak before you think. I've always applied the rule that you don't say anything on Twitter that you wouldn't say on television. And never, ever tweet after a glass of wine." While she's been basking in the grassroots support of new and long-term party members, however, social media platforms have been crackling with menacing comments, some sounding very like death threats. Anti-SNP, anti-Salmond and now anti-Sturgeon sentiment is ongoing. How does she cope with it? "I've had particularly unpleasant stuff and it has been reported that I've had death threats.

Twitter and Facebook give people who have always been out there a platform from which to hurl abuse, and all I can do is try to block it out and remind myself that tweets are transient and get lost in the ether after a few moments. "I do mute people. It's a great facility because the person doesn't know you've done it, but many of my constituents use Twitter to ask questions so I try not to block people unless they're being racist, sexist or particularly rude. If it's just someone being strident and impolite, that's democracy. I wouldn't necessarily answer it, though." Murrell has by now served us coffee and pastries, and is busy elsewhere in the house. When I interviewed the couple just weeks before their wedding in 2010, Sturgeon admitted she didn't cook and said her partner's steak and chips, spag bol and curry were the best. The names Rick Stein and Gordon Ramsay were among his chosen cookbooks. "It's my relaxation," he said then. I made myself unpopular by reporting that his fiancee couldn't distinguish between the basil and parsley plants growing on the kitchen windowsill. This time, I don't get near the kitchen.

Has her culinary knowledge improved "I can make coffee," she insists with a giggle. "I'm not the greatest cook, but then I don't apply myself. Peter's steak and chips are the best, so I don't really have to. I'm not domestic but I do iron his shirts, that's my one domestic claim to fame and it makes up for all the things I don't do. "Being a housewife is not important to me, but I'm never happier than when I come home and shut the door. I like being home. I'm not domestic in the sense of being good around the house like Peter. He also looks after the garden." Born in 1970 and raised in the Ayrshire village of Dreghorn just outside Irvine, Sturgeon had an "ordinary" upbringing, attending Greenwood Academy in Irvine. It was at school at the age of 16 that she joined CND, then the SNP. She went on to study law at Glasgow University, graduating in 1992. She worked as a solicitor, latterly at Drumchapel Law Centre, before becoming an MSP in 1999. She now represents Glasgow Southside.

Another difference between her and Salmond is that she has never sat at Westminster: she has been at the Scottish Parliament since its inception, and declares herself a "child of devolution". She has said that Murrell, whom she has been with since 2003, is her "constant reminder that while the SNP is important to us both, other things in life matter as well". For his part, he has said that "loving Nicola gives me a feeling of completeness". "He has his faults, though," she adds now with mock disapproval. "He's very untidy. When he cooks a meal it looks like a bomb has hit the kitchen and he leaves it like that. It tends to stay that way until he clears up." Their conservatory dining room is crammed with photographs of Sturgeon's niece and nephew and Murrell's three nephews. The children often text their auntie "about everything and anything but certainly never about how I look on the telly or what I said". Spending time with their families is the most important aspect of the couple's lives outwith politics. They are party people, but not in the celebrity sense.

They rarely go to the cinema, never go to the theatre and prefer to eat at home. Will Sturgeon use the ministerial residence Bute House as much as Salmond did? "I will stay there while in Edinburgh, but I'm not going to be living there. I'll want to live in my own home. The advantage I have is that it's only 45 minutes away, unlike Alex whose home is in Aberdeenshire. Glasgow's my home, both personal and political. But when you're First Minister you're not only standing for one part of the country." At this point I bring up the elephant in the room - the patter of tiny feet she reportedly mentioned in a newspaper interview about living in Bute House. "I said as a joke something like 'I'm sure the patter of tiny feet would brighten up Bute House.' It was lighthearted, " she says. "People ask me as if motherhood is something that at some stage you've made a decision about. It's not how these things happen." And we leave it at that. When I first interviewed Nicola Sturgeon exactly 10 years ago this weekend, she was single and living in a flat in Glasgow city centre.

She had just become deputy leader of the SNP and declared her intention of defeating the then First Minister Jack McConnell in the Scottish parliamentary elections in 2007 (her reputation as a nippy sweetie was sealed during her ding-dongs with McConnell at FMQs). Her other political rivals at the time were David McLetchie, Jim Wallace and Robin Harper - giants, at least physically, when compared with her 5ft 4in, size 8 frame (she'd just lost a stone following a diet). The high heels she adopted then - from Dune to Kurt Geiger - have remained a staple of her professional wardrobe. The killer patent scarlet six-inchers she wore at the rally in Dundee's Caird Hall are at the front door alongside a pair of slippers, reinforcing the impression that work and home are kept quite separate. Today she's wearing her "at-home wardrobe": shirt, jeans and minimal jewellery, though her hair and makeup are perfect. She does her own styling, and her hair looks softer and more natural than it tends to on television or in print. Padding around her cosy home - all light carpets, pale walls, modern oak furniture - she's looking particularly slim.

She's returned to a size 8-10 after losing "a fair bit of weight" during the referendum campaign, and hopes to keep it off. A cross-trainer upstairs isn't getting the attention it deserves, because of her irregular schedule; she acknowledges she can focus more easily on watching her diet than exercising. "Seeing yourself all the time on TV or in newspapers is a good incentive to stay slim," she says. Every bad hair day, unfortunate facial expression and single ounce gain is commented upon, and social media only serves to encourage yet more comment; particularly so with women. One female online journalist recently said Sturgeon had once looked like "a dead ringer for Angela Merkel - all elephantine linen trouser suits, death row haircut and M&S shoes". Another described her haircut as a "Lego hairpiece", though more acceptable, perhaps, than the gelled spikes of her teenage years. In fact, she shops online at Hobbs and LK Bennett and will continue to do so. She will get no ministerial clothing allowance. Declining the offer of a pastry, she sighs. "One of the most difficult things about being a woman politician is the derogatory comments about your appearance.

I constantly read about the mess of my hair, my clothes or how I look. I have been reading it so long I'm inured to it, but I do get annoyed when I think about some young woman being put off a career in politics by it. That does make me angry: women should be positively encouraged. Having succeeded in having more women get to the top at the Scottish Parliament, you'd hope it would then be easier for the next generation of women to come through." While Sturgeon enjoys the format of the public meeting, holding FMQs is a different matter altogether. "I'm not sure it's an experience you ever get to enjoy," she says flatly. "You never look forward to it. It's a stressful half-hour and very daunting. But it is the time your political opponents get to hold you to account. It shouldn't be a walk in the park, it should be tough. But I can't say I'm relishing that part of my job." When she holds FMQs on Thursday for the first time in the top job, might we expect a brand-new look? She looks at me askance over her coffee cup. Er, that'll be a no, then.

"I have a high intensity period ahead of me over the next two to three weeks, when I'll get very busy," she says. "I'm really looking forward to it, but if I was a man I wouldn't have to worry about my wardrobe so much. Women have to plan ahead, think about what we're going to wear each day, assess if we need our hair done, angst over wearing the same thing two days in a row. Choosing what colour of tie to wear really isn't the same thing at all." With that, the coffee cup is set down. She's off to hold a surgery in her local constituency, and it's clear she's back on full throttle.

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow Uni: SNP ‘civic nationalism’, Nicola Sturgeon and her husband Peter Murrell, SNP Chief Executive have serious questions to answer why SNP HQ isn’t investigating complaints by ordinary members, the SNP is rotten to the core, dripping in sleaze and up to its neck in scandal, the ‘unity party’ is an utter fraud The real Glaswegian working class voice in the independence debate read by thousands, the BBC and other related media, secured the first criminal conviction against one of the seven top cybernats outed by the Daily Mail Saturday, February 20, 2016 SNP ‘civic nationalism’, Nicola Sturgeon and her husband Peter Murrell, SNP Chief Executive have serious questions to answer why SNP HQ isn’t investigating complaints by ordinary members, the SNP is rotten to the core, dripping in sleaze and up to its neck in scandal, the ‘unity party’ is an utter fraud Dear All My experience of the staff of the SNP at their headquarters in Edinburgh taught one thing, that Nicola Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell couldn’t be trusted. Prior to being smeared in the party as making a “homophobic” comment, I had put in legitmate complaints.

What action did Peter Murrell take as Chief Executive? He did nothing. What action did Derek Mackay take when I forwarded my complaint to him? He did nothing. What action did Ian McCann, the compliance officer take? He did nothing. You may wonder why, let me save you the trouble, these people don’t care about ordinary members, the idea of a united party in the SNP is as I have written in the past a myth. The party is a party within a party; I call it a cult because cult best describes how these people operate. After I made complaints, as everyone knows, the SNP National Secretary then made a complaint about me. As well as being the complainer, he was running the hearing against me, and speaking to the judges outside the process regarding the case. After I complained about this stinking piece of human vermin and walked away from the SNP, he resigned as National Secretary. Never to be heard of again. As people know I have had serious illness, when I informed them that I couldn’t travel to Edinburgh, Patrick Grady MP, the new National Secretary held a hearing to find me guilty in secret, at a hearing I did not know had taken place.

This little incident tells you all you need to know about ‘civic nationalism’ which some people just describe as ‘Scottish Nazism’. The right to a fair trial, the right to present your case and the right to equality all do not exist in the SNP. I said over the last couple of years, the SNP is a ‘rat ship’; this upset the Nationalist who hide behind the fake persona of Nicola Sturgeon being a nice and caring person. For the avoidance of doubt, Nicola Sturgeon is a vile nasty horrible individual who surrounds herself with the most vicious clique in Scottish politics. Incidentally, you may remember I recently made the press as one of her Southside clique was found guilty in Glasgow Sheriff Court, he was a liar and smeared me as a ‘known paedophile’. Now he has been dealt with by the Court, his fine of £1500 was to me, just a cherry on top of the cake. So, the SNP who present themselves as the moral voice of Scotland is a rotten putrid vessel of questionable humanity.

The reports of ‘civil war’ inside the party are making it out into the public domain, in the past, the SNP managed to get rid of people quietly so the cult could flourish without the gaze of scrutiny. The latest new low in the continued internal war involves SNP Councillor David Baird. Apparently, he has been placed under investigation by the party following claims he profited from selling SNP merchandise at a rally for the pro-independence group Hope over Fear. Hope over Fear is the vehicle of Tommy Sheridan to climb back up to the top of the political ladder in Scotland as an independence supporter campaigning for the mystical second indyref. At present the party described this as a “dispute”, however a report within an Uddingston and Bellshill branch audit document said £1,524 was due to the group by a member and that the local organisation should “litigate if necessary”. It seems there is a problem when it comes to money in the SNP, the SNP HQ apparently has told members not to call in police. Why would SNP HQ wish to interfere if members suspect that allegedly criminality make have taken place? Don’t they believe in the rule of law and justice?

The SNP councillor strongly denies any wrongdoing and claims he planned to use the cash to set up a breakaway branch. That raises a question, why did he think that assets belonging to the current branch could be used to setup a breakaway branch? Did he have permission to exercise this authority? If so, who gave it to him and when, and does he have authorisation in writing which is beyond dispute, and copied to various interested parties? And of course, documented in branch meeting minutes, so that no one gets to re-write history! This latest episode in a long-running internal feud within the SNP that has exploded since Julie McAnulty, another councillor, was suspended by the SNP. The claims against her which she denies relate to a statement allegedly told an activist employed by an MSP that she wanted to “get the pakis out of the party”. The racism complaint was made by Sheena McCulloch. She is a staffer for MSP Richard Lyle; he is convenor of the Uddingston and Bellshill branch and a Holyrood candidate. To show how bizarre things have gotten, a group loyal to Lyle make the allegation that the party is fighting off attempts of infiltration from Tommy Sheridan’s Solidarity Party.

Of course, they will have evidence of this, such as confirmation that certain SNP members also hold Solidarity membership? It seems that the influx of largely new members which the SNP like to boast about has brought problems; they are seen as a threat because what passes for candidates in the SNP isn’t very good. Another view of mine is that there is a genuine lack of talent in the SNP; apparently the George Laird is echoed time and time again as people like odious Natalie McGarry demonstrate on twitter. Natalie McGarry, big mouth with little brain! Baird said: “I brought all of the paperwork and money to party HQ in May yet nine months on this has still not been resolved. I asked them to take this to the police. This is a smear job that has been leaked to the papers because of negative stories appearing about certain other members of the party.” In my complaint after 6 months, the SNP HQ did nothing, not even correspond with me. They even broke the law regarding my data subject access request, when I asked who in the SNP had responsibility as the Data Controller, Peter Murrell, Nicola Sturgeon’s husband replied by email that he was responsible.

My data subject access request was 3 times over the legal limit, my id was not returned and the information I specifically requested was also not there. Chief executive Peter Murrell, Nicola Sturgeon’s husband is like his wife, a ‘rat’, I say this openly in print and would say it to her face, which probably explains why her face gets very interested on what is on the floor when she sees me. To show you how sensitive Sturgeon is on this latest scandal, she stonewalled questions about the Lanarkshire controversy in a Facebook Q&A. People apparently don’t have the right to know under the SNP. And to return to Patrick Grady, the SNP national secretary, he deliberately tried to hush up activists on Twitter. He privately told one former branch secretary discussing internal party business in public was “inappropriate”. Well, I would say that that the way that Nicola Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell runs the SNP is highly “inappropriate” as I discovered through my personal experiences. Grady’s attempt to gag activists however backfired when the former branch secretary revealed she had already quit the party, and posted the exchange which shows Grady as he is in all his glory.

The SNP is a ‘rat ship’, in 2014, Scotland wasn’t ready to be an independent country because no work for was done, when you know realise what the calibre of people leading the SNP actually is, you know why. A person once said to me regarding the quality of SNP elected politicians, ‘is that it’? Yes, that is it, and that is why Scotland needs a centre right party to manage its affairs, we have spin without substance, we have poor leaders without integrity, and we have the great shop soiled white hope of Dreghorn, Nicola Sturgeon leading the country backwards in all directions. I have nothing but the utmost contempt for Nicola Sturgeon and I publicly regret assisting to get her into public office in 2011. I put my hand up, I was conned, I believed that these people were ‘better’, that they had a vision and wanted to help people, the SNP cult only help themselves to the wealth of Scotland.

Yours sincerely The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University Posted by G Laird at Profile: Nicola Sturgeon - BBC News BBC News By Mona McAlinden BBC Scotland 5 September 2012 Close share panel Image caption Nicola Sturgeon was health secretary for five years, and was popular in the role Nicola Sturgeon was born in the North Ayrshire town of Irvine in 1970, and grew up during "the dark days of the Thatcher era," as she later told journalists. By her own admission she came from an ordinary background, with supportive parents who encouraged their daughter to aim high. She was educated at Greenwood Academy and joined the SNP at the tender age of 16. Ms Sturgeon's English teacher was a Labour councillor and assumed his pupil would also join the party, because of her interest in politics and antipathy for the Tory government. If I was honest I was probably a bit po-faced Nicola Sturgeon When he handed her a membership form, she said it was the catalyst for joining the Nationalists. "I thought: 'Stuff you, I'm going to join the SNP'," she said in an interview.

The 42-year-old's family were not overtly political when she was growing up, although her mother now serves as an SNP councillor for North Ayrshire. But she later learned her grandfather had been an SNP member in the 1960s. The young party member got her first taste of political campaigning in the 1987 election, and soon afterwards embarked on a law degree at the University of Glasgow. Her first job was a solicitor at Drumchapel Law Centre in Glasgow, but it did not detract from her political activities. She first stood for election in the 1992 general election, as the SNP's candidate in Glasgow's Shettleston constituency. She was the youngest parliamentary candidate north of the border, although she failed to win the seat. Image caption Sturgeon initially combined her legal career with her political activities The next general election, in 1997, saw Ms Sturgeon selected to fight the Glasgow Govan seat for the SNP. Boundary changes meant that the notional Labour majority in the seat had increased substantially.

However, infighting between Mohammed Sarwar and Mike Watson, the two rival candidates for the Labour nomination, as well as an energetic local campaign by the SNP, resulted in the seat being the only one in Scotland to see a swing away from Labour in the midst of a UK-wide Labour landslide. Ms Sturgeon stood for the same constituency - Glasgow Govan - in the first Scottish Parliament elections in 1999, and in 2003. She failed to win on both occasions but was elected after being placed first in the Glasgow regional list. Love blossomed The MSP was elected to the SNP's national executive, and was appointed the party's spokeswoman for health, education and later for justice. In those early days in parliament, she had a reputation for being overly serious and later said in an interview: "When you're younger you take yourself far too seriously. Particularly being a young woman in politics where you feel a pressure to be taken seriously. If I was honest I was probably a bit po-faced." There was a flurry of excitement in Holyrood in 2003 when it emerged that love had blossomed between Ms Sturgeon and Peter Murrell, the SNP's chief executive.

The pair first met 15 years previously at an SNP youth weekend in Aberdeenshire which Murrell had organised, and married in 2010. Image caption Sturgeon has been a key member of the SNP team since the Scottish Parliament's inception in 1999 Ms Sturgeon's leadership ambitions were clear; in 2004 she announced that she would also be a candidate in the forthcoming election to lead the party, with Kenny MacAskill as her running mate for the depute leadership. However, Alex Salmond later announced he intended to stand for the leadership. Ms Sturgeon withdrew from the contest, declaring her support for Mr Salmond, and standing instead as his deputy. They were elected to the roles in September 2004, the start of long and fruitful political pairing. Another high point came in 2007, when Ms Sturgeon won the Glasgow Govan constituency from Labour. It was an iconic seat for the SNP, with the victory equalling Margo MacDonald's by-election win in 1973 and her husband Jim Sillar's triumph there in the 1980s.

It coincided with a bit of a turnaround in the public and media perception of Nicola Sturgeon. The formerly earnest, slightly severe, political operator began to adopt a different demeanour, and had more of a common touch, according to commentators. Although denied by Ms Sturgeon, there seemed to be an image revamp as well as a slight change in her public persona. She later put this down to a greater confidence in her abilities, and being more relaxed than she had been 10 years previously. Image caption Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell married in 2010 and now live in Govan After her historic victory in Govan, Ms Sturgeon was handed the health brief and deputy first minister position. Salmond and Sturgeon made a formidable double act, with the first minister often lauding his deputy, admitting that she had given him some "pretty stern advice" over the years. As health minister she was well regarded by health professionals, and popular with the public who seemed to admire her businesslike approach. She brought in well-received policies such as the abolition of prescription charges and hospital car park charges.

Ms Sturgeon was at the front line of the SNP's historic Scottish election victory in 2011, when the party secured an overall majority in the Scottish Parliament. She later described the result, and the dismantling of Labour strongholds across the country, as having broken the mould of Scottish politics. She said the SNP won because it was "in touch with the country it served". Some five years after taking on the health brief, Ms Sturgeon has now been given another equally significant role - overseeing the independence referendum. After the reshuffle was announced, she told the Holyrood chamber that she was ready to make a "positive and upbeat case" for independence and she looked forward to winning the referendum in 2014. Nicola Sturgeon: No 'conscious decision' not to have children - Telegraph Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Sturgeon: No 'conscious decision' not to have children The First Minister casts doubt on whether male politicians like Alex Salmond would be questioned about their dress sense or why they did not start a family.

Nicola Sturgeon has said she uses her profile to promote designer Totty Rocks Photo: Reuters By Simon Johnson , Scottish Political Editor 6:29PM BST 23 Apr 2015 Follow Nicola Sturgeon has said she never made a “conscious decision” not to have children and bemoaned the fact that female politicians are scrutinised over their dress sense. The Scottish First Minister said there was “understandable curiosity” why she and her husband, Peter Murrell, the SNP’s chief executive, had not started a family. But she said they “certainly didn’t” make a conscious choice and the couple queried whether the same question would be asked of a childless male politician, such as her predecessor, Alex Salmond. In a TV interview designed to show her life away from politics, Ms Sturgeon also complained that her appearance is subjected to greater scrutiny because she is a woman, but said she has used her profile to promote Totty Rocks, a Scottish clothes designer. She said that Margaret Thatcher was “one of the key reasons I’m in politics”, but only because she opposed everything the Tory Government did, and accused the former Prime Minister of doing “pretty much nothing” to help women.

Ms Sturgeon said she would like to be the First Minister of an independent Scotland but she did not know whether that would happen within the next five years. Speaking to ITV’s Tonight programme, the couple also disclosed she gets control over their TV remote control and enjoys watching soap operas and talent shows such as the X-factor. Her worst habit is refusing to “switch off” from Twitter. Ms Sturgeon and Mr Murrell married in 2010, 15 years after they met at an SNP youth weekend in Aberdeenshire. She said it was “one of these things” that people ask why they did not have children, arguing that it was related to being a woman in politics. “On the other hand Alex Salmond doesn’t have children. He might tell you differently but I’m not aware of reading an interview or seeing an interview with Alex Salmond asking that question,” she said.

“The idea that you would ever make a conscious decision about these things, some women possibly do and there’s nothing wrong with that, but I certainly, we certainly, didn’t.” However, she said she would go “no further” on the topic because “everybody’s entitled to some privacy.” She said her dress was another topic that male politicians do not have to deal with, adding: “Men, the colour of their tie is the most difficult decision they have to make every day. So you have to be thinking about what you’re wearing but you don’t want to be thinking about it at the expense of what you really need to be thinking about.

“It still annoys me when I read really derogatory things about how a women looks because you would usually not read these things about a man and that still has the potential to put women off public life and that’s a real shame.” Nicola Sturgeon with her mentor, Alex Salmond Asked about her bad habits, Mr Murrell said: “Switching off from social media, or not switching off and when in bed you make one final check when you should just switch off from these things and leave them behind." Ms Sturgeon also said she gets on well with Mr Salmond and she was not annoyed by claims he is “pulling the strings behind the scene” because they are untrue. The First Minister said it was tribute to his mentorship that she does not have to approach him for advice every day. Sturgeon: I and chief exec husband will not wield too much power inside SNP (From HeraldScotland) / Tom Gordon , Scottish Political Editor NICOLA Sturgeon has denied she and her husband Peter Murrell would wield an unhealthy amount of power over the SNP if she is confirmed as the party's next leader this week.

Sturgeon, who is expected to be named as Alex Salmond's successor unopposed on Wednesday, said she was comfortable with being leader while Murrell is the party's chief executive. Loading article content However, some SNP members are uneasy at the prospect, fearing it will put an unprecedented amount of power in the hands of one couple. Some also worry that, with Sturgeon's mother Joan as the Provost of North Ayrshire Council, it makes the SNP look like a Labour-style "family business" rather than a modernising force. One senior SNP source said: "Some of us don't really want an alternative Royal Family. We want a new Scotland based on meritocracy." Another senior party insider said: "It's not ideal, especially looked at from outside. The perception is that it's a bit incestuous, that too much power is in the one household." Talking to the Sunday Herald, Sturgeon stressed that most of the administrative oversight of the SNP is conducted by business convener Derek Mackay, rather than her husband. Asked about fears she and Murrell would be an overbearing power couple if she became leader, Sturgeon said: "I've been deputy leader for years while Peter's been chief executive for 10 years.

That's not been an issue that's given rise to any concern internally. "In the constitution of the SNP, the oversight of the administrative side of the party lies with the business convener, not with the leader. So I'm comfortable there are no issues that arise." According to the SNP constitution, Mackay chairs the main decision-making bodies and runs "operational matters including membership, campaign co-ordination and internal affairs". However, the constitution also says the leader appoints the business convener each year, putting Mackay's fate in Sturgeon's hands. The SNP's annual report says Murrell is "responsible for the day-to-day running of SNP activities and projects". However, the party declined to provide his full job description. Asked if party members could still complain about her if her husband was chief executive, Sturgeon said: "Absolutely. The business convener deals with the internal democracy and the whole oversight of administration. So that gives a route.

"It wouldn't be the chief executive who would deal with a complaint about the leader if I was the leader, it would be the business convener." Looking back at the referendum, Sturgeon also defended the SNP policy on a currency union, saying it was right to advocate sharing the pound - a policy the Unionist parties blocked - rather than advance a new Scottish currency, as many in the Yes campaign had wanted. She said: "I think we were in the right position on currency because other positions would have been just as difficult. "Others take a different view on that. I don't think [a different currency proposal] would have made a fundamental difference. "By the time we got to the last couple of weeks of the campaign ... currency was not what was stopping people voting Yes in my opinion, there was a multitude of different factors at play. The two things in the latter period were general understandable human anxieties about the unknown and being told we can get something [The Vow] that takes us a long way without all that.

Probably that was the most significant factor to those who wanted to vote Yes but didn't." Sturgeon, 44, and Murrell, 51, were married in Glasgow in 2010 after a seven-year courtship. Opponents have sought to exploit their relationship to score points in the past. In September 2012, Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont used First Minister's Questions to ask whether it was right for Sturgeon to get free prescriptions when she lived "in a household with an income of over £200,000 a year". At the time, Sturgeon earned just over £100,000 as an MSP and minister and Murrell's salary in 2011 was £109,000. It fell to £77,000 in 2012 and was omitted from the SNP accounts in 2013.

Scottish National Party's Nicola Sturgeon reveals her domestic policies | Daily Mail Online SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon reveals her domestic policies - her husband does all the cleaning and she's on first-name terms with her takeaway delivery driver First Minister invites the cameras into her spotless home near Glasgow Reveals how she irons husband Peter's shirts to dodge doing chores Jokes that he was up later at night cleaning house before TV interview Admits to being not good in the kitchen and ordering Indian takeaways Married Peter Murrell, the Scottish National Party chief executive, in 2010 She says she never made a 'concious decision' not to have children

Question: Peter Murrell is the husband of which politician?
Answer: NICOLA STURGEON