All we know so far about SNP motorhome controversy

Images of a campervan being seized by police led to further questions about the extent of investigations into SNP finances.

The development was a surprise twist in the crisis facing the party just after Nicola Sturgeon’s husband was questioned by police.

Ms Sturgeon has also since been questioned and released without charge.

But what has a campervan got to do with it, and why was it parked in a Dunfermline street?

Here’s everything we know so far.

When was the motorhome seized?

On April 5, former SNP chief executive Mr Murrell – married to Nicola Sturgeon – was arrested by police in connection with their investigation into party spending.

Former SNP chief Peter Murrell was previously arrested. Image: PA.

It later emerged officers had also seized a motorhome, worth more than £100,000, from the driveway of his mother’s Dunfermline home on the same day.

Questions immediately emerged over who the campervan belonged to, when it had first been purchased and why it was key to the police probe.

Why was the campervan bought?

It was later confirmed by First Minister Mr Yousaf that the motorhome linked to the SNP’s finance scandal was owned by the party.

Party sources told the Daily Record the campervan was purchased to function as a campaign battle bus ahead of the 2021 Holyrood election due to Covid restrictions.

But this plan was later ditched in the run-up to the nationwide vote as pandemic curbs were gradually eased by Ms Sturgeon’s government.

Instead the motorhome sat outside Margaret Murrell’s home for more than two years before it was seized by police.

Opposition MSPs cast doubts over SNP claims the motorhome had originally been acquired by the party as a consequence of Covid.

Scottish Tory chairman Craig Hoy branded the explanation “less than convincing”.

On May 21, the Sunday Mail reported the motorhome was never insured and on June 18 the newspaper claimed it was a cash purchase.

Was Humza Yousaf aware?

Mr Murrell’s arrest and the campervan saga has been a major blow for Mr Yousaf.

The SNP leader admitted he only discovered his party had purchased the campervan after he succeeded Ms Sturgeon in the top job.

Humza Yousaf was unaware his party owned a motorhome. Image: PA.

Asked by Sky News when he found out, Mr Yousaf said: “Shortly after I became leader of the party.”

Similarly, the new first minister revealed he had also been in the dark over the SNP’s auditors quitting, despite them stepping back last autumn.

Did the SNP’s former treasurer know?

Colin Beattie was the second senior SNP figure to be taken into police custody when he was arrested on April 18.

Shortly afterwards he confirmed his resignation as the party’s treasurer, a post he held from 2004 until 2020, and then took up again the following year.

On his return to Holyrood, Mr Beattie said he didn’t know about the party-owned campervan despite being responsible for the party’s finances.

Former SNP treasurer Colin Beattie. Image: Kenny Smith.

He later clarified he had found out about the purchase later in 2021 and had only been unaware when it was first bought.

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In a statement, he said: “I was asked if I knew about the motorhome purchase to which I answered no.

“Given some of the coverage of this answer, I believe it is important to clarify that I was unaware of the transaction at the time of purchase.

“I became aware of the transaction via the 2021 annual accounts.”

Another former party treasurer, Dunfermline MP Douglas Chapman, also revealed he was unaware about the SNP-owned campervan parked in his own constituency.

Mr Chapman, who quit his role in 2021 over a lack of information needed to do the job, told The Times he had been kept in the dark over the purchase.

In August 2023, it emerged the SNP was more than £800,000 in deficit – and the campervan remains on the party’s books.

What has Nicola Sturgeon said?

Since the SNP’s finance crisis escalated following the arrest of her husband all eyes were on ex-First Minister Ms Sturgeon.

Speaking in Holyrood on April 25, the former leader claimed she could not have “anticipated in my worst nightmares” her party’s troubles.

Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. Image: PA.

Ms Sturgeon continued to deny the party’s money woes were why she made the shock decision to quit the top job in February.

She told journalists: “Clearly the events of the last few weeks have been difficult and – I use this word advisedly and deliberately – in some respects very traumatic.”

Ms Sturgeon was arrested then released without charge by police on June 11.