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Nicola Sturgeon has admitted many Scots "struggle" to believe the timing of her resignation as First Minister was not linked to a police investigation into SNP finances . "The idea that if I had known what was about to unfold, that I would be able to function at all, is nonsensical. No, I didn't know," she told a Guardian podcast . Sturgeon was questioned by detectives in June 2023 as part of Operation Branchform but was later told she would face no further action. The former SNP leader had stunned the political world in February 2023 when she used a hastily arranged press conference at Bute House to announce she was standing down after nine years in the top job. But on April 5 that year - just days after the Nationalists chose Humza Yousaf as their new leader - a house on the eastern edge of Glasgow belonging to Sturgeon and her husband Peter Murrell was searched by dozens of police. Cops spent two days going through the detached new build property near Uddingston in connection with Operation Branchform, which was launched following complaints over how the SNP had spent £600,000-worth of donations. The police investigation was concluded in August 2024 and a file passed to the Procurator Fiscal, who later charged Murrell with embezzlement. The former SNP chief executive, 60, made no plea during a private court hearing in March and was granted bail. Sturgeon was separately informed by prosecutors she was no longer under investigation. Asked by podcast host Pippa Crerar if she could see why many Scots struggle to believe she had no idea what was going on, Sturgeon said: "Yeah, I can. Absolutely. "If I was on the outside looking in, to the unfolding of events in the days after I stood down, I would struggle to believe that as well. "But trust me, I had no idea. I knew there was an investigation, obviously. Back at the point I stood down, my views on the investigation were more about frustration, about why it was going on for so long, rather than any real concern about where it was going to go. "If I had known... the period between me announcing my resignation, and actually leaving office, was more than a month. People who were around me at the time - colleagues, friends - will say in that month I was more relaxed than I had been in years, as I knew I was making the right decision. "I know people struggle to believe that politicians are human, but the idea that if I had known what was about to unfold, that I would be able to function at all, is nonsensical. No I didn't know. And what unfolded, unfolded." Sturgeon will stand down as an MSP at next year's election. She previously announced she had separated from Murrell. The Record previously revealed combined cost resulting from the criminal investigation into SNP finances is now almost £2.7 million. Latest figures released from cash strapped Police Scotland show that expenditure on their four year Operation Branchform investigation is now more than £2.2 million - even though it officially ended four months ago. To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here
