Ex-SNP treasurer Colin Beattie's £5k reward... to find out who leaked stories about his wife

By HANNAH RODGER, SCOTTISH CHIEF REPORTER Published: 18:26, 6 June 2026 | Updated: 18:26, 6 June 2026 Former SNP Treasurer Colin Beattie offered up a £5,000 reward to find out who was leaking stories about his wife to the press. The MSP, who was the party’s treasurer for 16 years, told colleagues in Midlothian that he wanted the leak to be ‘found and isolated’ and would stump up thousands of pounds to do so. Critics within the SNP and from opposition parties say the revelations speak to Mr Beattie’s character as a man who was ‘obsessed with secrecy and control’ and ‘completely paranoid’. Jackie Baillie, Labour’s deputy leader, said Beattie was ‘attempting to bribe party members so that he could maintain a culture of bullying, secrecy and cover-up’. Rachael Hamilton, deputy leader of the Scottish Tories, said the behaviour was ‘straight out of the Sturgeon-Murrell playbook which put secrecy… at the heart of the SNP.’ An email passed to the Scottish Mail on Sunday from 2012 shows Mr Beattie launched a mole hunt to find out who was leaking negative stories to the media about his wife Lisa Beattie, who had to quit as Midlothian Council leader after just five weeks as she faced an internal revolt. Her SNP colleagues said she would face a vote of no confidence if she didn’t stand down from the role, and her departure was confirmed on June 26, 2012. Just a week later on July 3, Mr Beattie, who was also a councillor at the time, wrote to his party colleagues in the council and said he wanted to find out about leaks Ex treasurer Colin Beattie with his wife  Lisa The message, with the subject ‘Reward’, read: ‘Now that the stramash over the leadership is over I am turning my thoughts….to how important trust is within the team. ‘Clearly there was a person briefing the press against a team member. Whether that person is a party member or not, the leak needs to be found an isolated.  'I know you will be as keen as I am to identify this source and hope you will welcome my initiative to offer a £5,000 cash reward for information which will beyond doubt identify this person.’ He offered another bounty to catch a separate leaker, explaining: ‘Additionally I understand that the press has been briefed by an unknown person in regard to an ongoing police investigation.  'This has caused considerable embarrassment for the innocent party…I am offering a sum of £1,000 cash for information which will beyond doubt identify the person who briefed the press.’ We previously revealed how Mr Beattie was accused of bribery by offering up to £20,000 to his local branch if they selected him as the party’s candidate for Midlothian in the Holyrood election. He, and the SNP, denied any wrongdoing. Ms Baillie said: ‘This is a deeply alarming revelation. We previously learned that Colin Beattie offered his branch a bribe so he would be selected as a candidate. ‘Now it appears that he was also attempting to bribe party members so that he could maintain a culture of bullying, secrecy and cover-up. ‘This absolutely stinks. The rotten culture of the SNP must be examined. That is why they must allow for an inquiry to take place so we can get to the truth. ‘If John Swinney and the SNP continue to dig in then it will be clear the public can never trust his party ever again.’ Scottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton said: ‘The SNP’s former treasurer must urgently come clean on this bizarre and paranoid behaviour.’ ‘It is straight out of the Sturgeon-Murrell playbook which put secrecy, cover-up and shutting down any dissent at the heart of the SNP during their time in charge. ‘There can be no justification for a senior SNP figure offering bribes to people to try and hunt down those who were whistleblowing about the scandalous events going on within the party.’ One disgruntled SNP member said: ‘Colin liked to act as though he was very important within the SNP. He was completely paranoid about people leaking information and wanted to have complete control while also being obsessed with secrecy.’ A second SNP source said it was ‘no surprise’ Mr Beattie remained as the party’s treasurer for so long under fraudster Murrell ‘because Colin would do what he could to prevent information coming out and wanted to punish people if he thought they had leaked anything.’ They added: ‘It’s just a shame Colin didn’t use those same detective skills to figure out his pal Peter was pocketing the party’s money right under his nose.’ Colin Beattie has been contacted for comment. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. 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