SNP chief Paul Murrell forced to quit over revelations the party lied about ... trends now

The SNP sensationally imploded last night after party chief executive Peter Murrell was forced to quit – just weeks after his wife, Nicola Sturgeon, announced her shock resignation as First Minister.

The downfall of Scotland's foremost political power couple followed revelations in The Mail on Sunday that the SNP had lied about its true membership numbers ahead of the leadership race.

Critics feared the bogus numbers were being used by the SNP 'party machine' to inflate support for Humza Yousaf, seen as the establishment's preferred candidate to take over as First Minister.

Yesterday, in a statement announcing his immediate resignation, Mr Murrell admitted he was responsible for the 'misleading' claims about membership figures – which the party had repeatedly said stood at around 100,000, but were actually around 72,000.

His bombshell departure comes amid a continuing police probe into how independence campaign donations have been handled and questions over why he made a personal donation of £107,000 to the party amid a cash crisis.

Last night commentators said it was the final nail in the coffin for the embattled Scottish nationalist movement.

Pamela Nash, chief executive of Scotland in Union, said: 'The party of government is imploding, guilty of cover-up and lying to the Scottish people.

'Murrell's resignation, along with other senior figures in the SNP, shows that the Nationalists are no longer fit to govern.'

Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy said: 'A fish rots from the head down – and the same applies to the SNP.

'Peter Murrell's resignation is long overdue but there remain serious questions for him to answer, not least over the 'missing' £600,000 from party accounts.

'The brutal, shambolic SNP leadership election appears to have been the tipping point that's forced the First Minister's husband to quit before he was pushed.'

Also, in a day of dramatic developments:

l Leadership hopeful Kate Forbes called on SNP members who had not yet voted to choose 'change' and vote for her in light of the tumultuous Murrell revelations;

l Insiders suggested she would clear out SNP top brass who had shored up the chief executive if she becomes First Minister;

l Party bigwig Mike Russell took over as interim chief executive.

The MoS exclusively revealed last week that nearly 50,000 members had abandoned the SNP in the past three years, with around 30,000 since 2021.

Speculation had been growing that SNP membership under Ms Sturgeon's leadership had plummeted since February, when a Scottish newspaper said paid-up members had dropped to around 70,000.

The claims were dismissed as 'drivel' by the SNP's head of media, Murray Foote. However, last week, the MoS confirmed the SNP had lied over the issue.

Our reporters approached the private company in charge of running the SNP leadership ballot, Mi-Voice, to secure the true figures.

A source at the Southampton-based polling firm said it had received the names of only around three-quarters of the 104,000 members touted by the SNP.

The news sent shockwaves across Scotland, with many concerned about the risk of election rigging, given the opaque nature of the contest.

Leadership candidates Ms Forbes and Ash Regan pressured party HQ over the figures until eventually, on Thursday, the SNP admitted membership as of February 15 this year was 72,186, down from 103,884 in 2021.

Mr Foote resigned from his post on Friday, saying he had been misled by SNP headquarters.

Rumours swirled yesterday that the party's ruling body, the national executive committee, was set to launch a vote of no confidence in Mr Murrell.

However, Mr Murrell conceded his 24 years in office had come to an end and, rather than face a cripplingly embarrassing vote, decided to leave the party rudderless. He said: 'Responsibility for the SNP's responses to media queries about our

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