Scotland's Nicola Sturgeon cleared in probe into party finances

By Sachin Ravikumar

LONDON (Reuters) -Former Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon has been cleared in a police investigation into the Scottish National Party's finances that had tarnished the legacy of Scotland's longest-serving first minister.

The nearly four-year old investigation has been looming over Sturgeon, arguably Scotland's best-known politician who led the devolved government in Edinburgh from 2014 until her shock resignation in early 2023.

Police have been investigating since 2021 what happened to more than 600,000 pounds ($730,000) raised by Scottish independence campaigners in 2017. It was supposed to have been ring-fenced but may have been used for other purposes.

Sturgeon, 54, was briefly arrested in June 2023 for questioning as part of a police probe into the fate of those funds. She denied any wrongdoing.

Police Scotland said in a statement on Thursday, without naming Sturgeon, that a 54-year-old woman first arrested in June 2023 as part of the probe had not been charged and was no longer under investigation.

The police probe and the arrest of the SNP's longest-serving leader was deeply embarrassing for the pro-independence party which has dominated Scottish politics for most of the last two decades.

A 2014 independence referendum was unsuccessful, with 55% of Scots voting for Scotland to stay part of the United Kingdom. Recent opinion polls have shown support for independence remaining along the same lines as during the 2014 vote.

Support for the SNP collapsed in last year's national election as it lost dozens of seats to Britain's governing Labour Party, in its worst national election result since 2010.

Sturgeon's exoneration came as her estranged husband, former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, appeared in court in Edinburgh charged with embezzlement.

Sturgeon said in January that she and Murrell had separated and were in the process of ending their marriage.

Having served as a lawmaker in the devolved parliament since 1999, Sturgeon said earlier this month she wouldn't stand for re-election, effectively quitting frontline politics.

(Reporting by Sam Tabahriti and Sachin Ravikumar, editing by William James, Alvise Armellini and Toby Chopra)