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The upcoming departure of Nicola Sturgeon as first minister and the resignation of her husband Peter Murrell as SNP chief executive marks the end of an era.

The couple have been at the helm of the party for almost a decade.

Ms Sturgeon, who became SNP leader and first minister in 2014, resigned last month.

The SNP leadership race has now led to the dramatic resignation of her husband, who had been the party’s chief executive since 1999.

Here, we chart the timeline of events that have led to the power couple stepping down from their reign.

27 October 2022: Community safety minister Ash Regan quits the Scottish government shortly before MSPs begin debating the first stage of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, which would make it easier for trans people to obtain a gender recognition certificate. A total of seven SNP MSPs break the whip to vote against the controversial bill.

23 November 2022: The UK Supreme Court rules that the Scottish parliament does not have the power to legislate for indyref2 without Westminster approval. Ms Sturgeon vows to use the next general election as a “de facto referendum” on independence and announces that a special SNP conference will be held in the new year to discuss and agree plans.

December 2022: Polling at the end of the year shows a small majority – excluding don’t knows – in support of independence. Ms Sturgeon also remains the leader with the highest satisfaction rating across the UK, scoring 52%. In comparison, Rishi Sunak receives a negative net satisfaction rating among Scots, with 53% dissatisfied with the prime minister’s performance.

17 January 2023: The UK government uses section 35 of the Scotland Act to block the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from receiving royal assent.

22 January 2023: Following the resignation of New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, Ms Sturgeon says she is “nowhere near” ready to quit as Scotland’s first minister and still has “plenty in the tank”.

Isla Bryson, 31, formerly known as Adam Graham, from Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, arrives at the High Court in Glasgow. Following a six-day trial at the High Court a jury has found the transgender woman guilty of raping two women when she was a man: one in Clydebank in 2016 and one in Drumchapel, Glasgow, in 2019. Picture date: Monday January 23, 2023. See PA story COURTS Bryson. Photo credit should read: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire
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Isla Bryson was jailed for eight years for raping two women

24 January 2023: Transgender woman Isla Bryson is found guilty of raping two women. The attacks occurred prior to Bryson’s transition from when they were known as Adam Graham. Within days, the argument surrounding the GRR bill explodes after it is discovered that Bryson is being housed within Scotland’s only all-female jail ahead of sentencing. Following a public outcry, Bryson is moved from Cornton Vale to the male estate.

12 February 2023: The Sunday Mail reports that up to 30,000 members have quit the SNP in response to the party’s gender reforms and the stalling of independence. The SNP claims the report is “both malicious and wholly inaccurate”, adding: “Fortunately, few people are gullible enough to believe it.”

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A lookback at Ms Sturgeon’s career

15 February 2023: Ms Sturgeon announces she will stand down as SNP leader and first minister. She says: “In my head and in my heart, I know that time is now.”

(left to right) Ash Regan, Kate Forbes and Humza Yousaf taking part in the SNP leadership hustings at Eden Court, Inverness. Picture date: Saturday March 4, 2023.
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Ash Regan, Kate Forbes and Humza Yousaf are in the running to replace Ms Sturgeon as first minister

24 February 2023: Health Secretary Humza Yousaf, Finance Secretary Kate Forbes and former community safety minister Ash Regan are confirmed as the three candidates in the running to replace Ms Sturgeon as first minister and SNP leader.

28 February 2023: Transgender double rapist Isla Bryson is jailed for eight years.

Read more:
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SNP has lost around 30,000 party members since 2021
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In Full: Watch the SNP Leadership Debate

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12 March 2023: Concerns are once again raised over the exact size of the SNP membership after the Mail on Sunday reports only 78,000 online forms are being sent out for the leadership vote.

15 March 2023: Ms Regan, Ms Forbes and Mr Yousaf pile pressure on the SNP to be more transparent over the ballot process. Ms Regan and Ms Forbes join forces to write an open letter to SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, who is also Ms Sturgeon’s husband. The trio call for the party to reveal the number of paid-up members, as well as the number of digital voting documents and postal voting papers issued.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney during his speech at the SNP conference at The Event Complex Aberdeen (TECA) in Aberdeen , Scotland. Picture date: Sunday October 9, 2022.
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The SNP conference in Aberdeen last October

16 March 2023: Following pressure, the SNP finally reveal that just 72,186 members are eligible to vote in the party leadership contest – a drop of around 30,000 members since 2021.

17 March 2023: Liz Lloyd, Ms Sturgeon’s strategic adviser and long-time chief of staff, announces she will leave the Scottish government when the first minister does. Murray Foote, the SNP’s head of communications, also announces his resignation. Mr Foote, who initially described the Sunday Mail’s story as “drivel”, claims he acted in “good faith” when issuing agreed party responses to media enquiries regarding membership numbers.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon with husband Peter Murrell as they cast their votes in the 2019 General Election at Broomhouse Park Community Hall in Glasgow.
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Ms Sturgeon told Sky News it was ‘right’ that Mr Murrell stepped down

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Ms Sturgeon speaks to Sky News after her husband announced his resignation as SNP chief executive

18 March 2023: Peter Murrell resigns with immediate effect as the SNP’s chief executive. Reports suggest members of the SNP’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) threatened a vote of no confidence. Shouldering the blame for the party’s responses to the media over membership numbers, Mr Murrell accepts: “While there was no intent to mislead, I accept that this has been the outcome.” In response, Ms Sturgeon, tells Sky News that her husband intended to step down but “was right” to announce his immediate resignation.

Nicola Sturgeon and Beth Rigby
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Ms Sturgeon spoke with Sky News’ Beth Rigby on Monday

20 March 2023: Ms Sturgeon tells Sky News that she has not heard whether police want to interview her or her husband as part of a long-running probe into SNP finances. Police Scotland and the Crown Office are currently investigating how £600,000 raised by the SNP for independence campaigning has been spent. In a Beth Rigby interview due to air at 9pm on Sky News on Monday, Ms Sturgeon responded: “No. I wouldn’t comment on any ongoing police investigation and I am not going to comment on this one.”

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Police search for missing sisters last seen three days ago near Aberdeen river

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Police search for missing sisters last seen three days ago near Aberdeen river

Specialist search teams, police dogs and divers have been dispatched to find two sisters who vanished in Aberdeen three days ago.

Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV in the city’s Market Street at Victoria Bridge at about 2.12am on Tuesday.

The siblings were captured crossing the bridge and turning right onto a footpath next to the River Dee in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club.

Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
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Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland

Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
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Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland

Police Scotland has launched a major search and said it is carrying out “extensive inquires” in an effort to find the women.

Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Local officers, led by specialist search advisors, are being assisted by resources including police dogs and our marine unit.”

Aberdeenshire Drone Services told Sky News it has offered to help in the search and is waiting to hear back from Police Scotland.

The Huszti sisters. Pic: Police Scotland
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CCTV of the sisters. Pic: Police Scotland

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The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.

Police said the Torry side of Victoria Bridge where the sisters were last seen contains many commercial and industrial units, with searches taking place in the vicinity.

The force urged businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review CCTV footage recorded in the early hours of Tuesday in case it captured anything of significance.

Drivers with relevant dashcam footage are also urged to come forward.

CI Bruce added: “We are continuing to speak to people who know Eliza and Henrietta and we urge anyone who has seen them or who has any information regarding their whereabouts to please contact 101.”

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Britain’s gas storage levels ‘concerningly low’ after cold snap, says owner of British Gas

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Britain's gas storage levels 'concerningly low' after cold snap, says owner of British Gas

Britain’s gas storage levels are “concerningly low” with less than a week of demand in store, the operator of the country’s largest gas storage site said on Friday.

Plunging temperatures and high demand for gas-fired power stations are the main factors behind the low levels, Centrica said.

The UK is heavily reliant on gas for its home heating and also uses a significant amount for electricity generation.

As of the 9th of January 2025, UK storage sites are 26% lower than last year’s inventory at the same time, leaving them around half full,” Centrica said.

“This means the UK has less than a week of gas demand in store.”

The firm’s Rough gas storage site, a depleted field off England’s east coast, makes up around half of the country’s gas storage capacity.

Gas storage was already lower than usual heading into December as a result of the early onset of winter.

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Combined with stubbornly high gas prices, this has meant it has been more difficult to top up storage over Christmas.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

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UK’s first taxpayer-funded injection room to open in radical move to tackle drugs epidemic

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UK's first taxpayer-funded injection room to open in radical move to tackle drugs epidemic

Glasgow has been a city crying out for solutions to a devastating drugs epidemic that is ravaging people hooked on deadly narcotics. 

We have spent time with vulnerable addicts in recent months and witnessed first-hand the dirty, dangerous street corners and back alleys where they would inject their £10 heroin hit, not knowing – or, in many cases, not caring – whether that would be the moment they die.

“Dying would be better than this life,” one man told me.

It was a grim insight into the daily reality of life in the capital of Europe’s drug death crisis.

Scotland has a stubborn addiction to substances spanning generations. Politicians of all persuasions have failed to properly get a grip of the emergency.

But there is a new concept in town.

From Monday, a taxpayer-funded unit is allowing addicts to bring their own heroin and cocaine and inject it while NHS medical teams supervise.

A dirty needle thrown less than 100 metres from the new injection centre
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A dirty needle thrown less than 100 metres from the new injection centre

It may be a UK-first but it is a regular feature in some other major European cities that have claimed high success rates in saving lives.

Glasgow has looked on with envy at these other models.

One supermarket car park less than a hundred metres from this new facility is a perfect illustration of the problem. An area littered with dirty needles and paraphernalia. A minefield where one wrong step risks contracting a nasty disease.

Drugs paraphernalia in a supermarket car park in Glasgow, near the new facility
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Drugs paraphernalia in a supermarket car park in Glasgow, near the new facility

It is estimated hundreds of users inject heroin in public places in Glasgow every week. HIV has been rife.

The new building, which will be open from 9am until 9pm 365 days a year, includes bays where clean needles are provided as part of a persuasive tactic to lure addicts indoors in a controlled environment.

There is a welcome area where people will check in before being invited into one of eight bays. The room is clinical, covered in mirrors, with a row of small medical bins.

Clean needles are provided to lure addicts to inject in a controlled environment
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Clean needles are provided to lure addicts to inject in a controlled environment

One of the eight bays users can inject in
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There are eight bays users can inject in

We were shown the aftercare area where users will relax after their hit in the company of housing and social workers.

The idea is controversial and not cheap – £2.3m has been ring-fenced every year.

The aftercare area
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The aftercare area

Read more: ‘Dying would be better than my £1,000 a month heroin addiction’

Authorities in the city first floated a ‘safer drug consumption room’ in 2016. It failed to get off the ground as the UK Home Office under the Conservatives said they would not allow people to break the law to feed habits.

The usual wrangle between Edinburgh and London continued for years with Downing Street suggesting Scotland could, if it wanted, use its discretion to allow these injecting rooms to go ahead.

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The stalemate ended when Scotland’s most senior prosecutor issued a landmark decision that it would not be in the public interest to arrest those using such a facility.

One expert has told me this new concept is unlikely to lead to an overall reduction in deaths across Scotland. Another described it as an expensive vanity project. Supporters clearly disagree.

The question is what does success look like?

The big test will be if there is a spike in crime around the building and how it will work alongside law enforcement given drug dealers know exactly where to find their clients now.

It is not disputed this is a radical approach – and other cities across Britain will be watching closely.

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