Nicola Sturgeon could face losing her home as estranged husband Peter Murrell faces having to pay back the £400,000 he embezzled from SNP

By JOSHUA HAINING, NEWS REPORTER Published: 15:24, 30 May 2026 | Updated: 15:28, 30 May 2026 Nicola Sturgeon could lose her home to pay back the £400,000 her estranged husband embezzled from the SNP. The suburban home in Uddingston, Glasgow, which is shared by Sturgeon and Peter Murrell, could be sold off under the proceeds of crime legislation to pay back lost funds, a legal expert confirmed. The estranged couple bought the home for £228,000 in 2005, but other properties recently sold on the street for around £330,000. Given their large salaries it is likely the mortgage has been paid off.  Sturgeon is entitled to her share of the sale after the police investigation into her was dropped, but Murrell's stake could be used to reimburse the party he ran for two decades. Murrell gave the party a £107,620 loan in June 2021 of which £60,000 is still outstanding, but it is again likely to be written off to repay the SNP. The disgraced former Chief Executive of the SNP did not declare the loan to the Electoral Commission, despite the fact he paid for a £124,550 motorhome with party funds and stored it at his mother's property six months later. Murrell pleaded guilty to embezzling £400,310.65 from the SNP for 12 years in court on May 25. A verbal motion for confiscation was then put in place to recover assets acquired through criminal activity.   Weeks after Sturgeon quit as first minister in March 2023, detectives raided the property and prosecutors issued a legal ban against selling the home. Former First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, could lose her home to pay back the £400,000 her estranged husband embezzled from the SNP Sturgeon's estranged husband Peter Murrell embezzled £400,310.65 from the SNP over 12 years Murrell's share in the suburban home in Uddingston, Glasgow, could be used to pay back the party he ran for two decades Yvonne Evans, a senior law lecturer at Dundee University, told the Times that selling the house was 'the most obvious way to make up shortfall on Murrell’s part'. If the house is under shared ownership, Sturgeon would keep her share, but Murrell's would go towards repaying the embezzled party funds under a confiscation order. Other purchases made with SNP money will be reclaimed to raise funds but the value will not be the same as when they were bought, the lecturer said. The shared property in Uddingston is not Sturgeon's only place of residence. In the last year, the former SNP leader stayed at flats in Edinburgh and London. It has been speculated that former SNP donors could bring a civil case to get their money back after Scotland's First Minister, John Swinney, said there would be no refunds. If embezzled funds return to the party through the proceeds of crime legislation, Evans said a case made by donors to retrieve funds would be unlikely to succeed. 'If the money is returned to SNP, there will be no ultimate financial loss once it has been repaid,' she said. 'It seems likely that the SNP will be reimbursed the full £400,000 by Murrell.' Murrell went to great lengths to disguise his crimes, Swinney said, as calls have been made for an independent inquiry into how he was able to steal SNP funds. It is unlikely SNP would vote in favour of a Holyrood inquiry with parties such as the Scottish Greens opposing the move. But there are calls from Westminster for the Scottish affairs committee, with eight of the 11 committee members to open an investigation if Holyrood does not. Opponents in Scotland were quick to point out that more than £2million of taxpayers' money went towards the police inquiry. 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. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.