What does it take to be excluded from the SNP’s candidate list? Quite a lot, it seems, as being arrested in connection with a police probe into your party’s funds and finances doesn’t appear to be a barrier anyway. Colin Beattie, the SNP’s ex-treasurer who was arrested as part of the Operation Branchform investigation, has revealed his intentions to stand again for the SNP ahead of 2026’s Holyrood elections. How very interesting…
John Swinney has refused to comment on whether Beattie would be a liability to his party, with the First Minister telling reporters on Wednesday: ‘I’m not going to talk about any issues that have any proximity to a police investigation.’ SNP members are a little less tight-lipped about their thoughts, however, with one telling the Times they were ‘baffled’ at Beattie’s intention to stand again, adding that: ‘We had to tell him to stay away from the doors – not that he was doing that much anyway – but the voters, as well as some party members, just wanted to ask him, “What happened to the money?”‘
Mr S would remind readers that the beleaguered beancounter was probed by police in 2023 over a ‘missing’ sum of £600,000 fundraised for a second independence referendum. The investigation got weirder by the day, as it transpired that police were looking into purchases of ladies razors, gardening equipment and, er, a luxury campervan. Despite being the party’s treasurer, Beattie admitted at the time that he was not aware of the motorhome purchase – while the SNP’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn told The Spectator: ‘I’ll be straightforward with you: I became aware when it was on the front of a newspaper.’
The probe remains ongoing, with Peter Murrell – former SNP CEO and ex-husband of Nicola Sturgeon – charged with embezzlement last year. Like Beattie, Sturgeon was arrested in 2023 and released pending further inquiries, and the duo remain under investigation. The SNP’s former Dear Leader revealed last week that she would not be attempting to win a Holyrood seat next year – with the Queen of Nats busy pursuing a literary career with the release of her memoir, ‘Frankly’, this August. Steerpike can think of a few other titles that might have been more fitting…
Will the SNP ever be able to escape the dark cloud hanging over them that is Operation Branchform? Beattie’s determination for a seat will certainly make things a little harder…
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