SNP in disaster as membership minimize in half after Nicola Sturgeon arrest | Politics | News | EUROtoday

The SNP’s membership has plummeted by half following the police investigation into its funds and Nicola Sturgeon’s arrest.

Documents filed with the Electoral Commission stated the nationalist celebration had 64,525 members on June 1.

It is a drop of 12 % in lower than a yr and round half of the SNP’s 2019 peak of 125,691.

The Party’s treasurer Stuart McDonald, the previous MP for Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East, blamed “cost of living pressures” for the decline.

It comes after a chaotic interval for the SNP following Ms Sturgeon’s shock resignation final yr and amid the police probe which centres on how greater than £600,000 in donations to the celebration earmarked for an independence referendum has been used.

Peter Murrell, the SNP’s former chief government and Ms Sturgeon’s husband, was charged with embezzlement in April.

In April final yr, police swooped on the Glasgow residence Ms Sturgeon shares with Mr Murrell in addition to the SNP’s headquarters in Edinburgh.

In dramatic scenes, officers erected a blue tent exterior the property as they searched it for 2 days.

The probe has additionally seen Ms Sturgeon and ex-treasurer Colin Beattie arrested final yr however they have been launched with out cost pending additional investigation. They deny any wrongdoing.

Ms Sturgeon stepped down as Scotland’s First Minister in March final yr and was succeeded by Humza Yousaf.

But he was pressured to give up in May following the collapse of the SNP’s power-sharing take care of the Greens.

Ms Sturgeon’s former deputy, John Swinney, has taken over following Mr Yousaf’s exit.