Nicola Sturgeon 'could be gone within weeks', says Scottish Tory leader

Nicola Sturgeon could resign as First Minister in a matter of ‘weeks’ over the toxic Alex Salmond debacle, the Scottish Tory leader has said.

Douglas Ross believes that if Ms Sturgeon is proved to have lied to the Scottish Parliament – a breach of the ministerial code – then she should ‘absolutely’ resign.

Such a shocking development could leave the SNP without a leader in Scotland ahead of the local elections in May, where the party is still expected to be victorious.

But speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Mr Ross said the long-running scandal over the handling of complaints into Mr Salmond had brought ‘sleaze and scandal to the heart of Scottish politics’.

Yesterday, Mr Salmond lashed out at Nicola Sturgeon for flouting the ministerial code and launching ‘astonishing’ attacks on him during a more than four-hour evidence session with the inquiry into the handling of complaints made against him.

Giving explosive evidence to a Parliamentary probe, the former First Minister criticised Ms Sturgeon for casting doubt on the court process that cleared him over harassment allegations, and suggested she broke conduct rules. She denies the allegations.

Nicola Sturgeon could resign as First Minister in a matter of ‘weeks’ over the serious allegations she lied to the Scottish Parliament about the inquiry into her predecessor Alex Salmond (pictured), the Scottish Tory leader has said

Douglas Ross believes that if Ms Sturgeon is proved to have lied to the Scottish Parliament – a breach of the ministerial code – then she should ‘absolutely’ resign

He complained of failures of ‘leadership’ and an effort to ‘tarnish my reputation’ as he insisted the rule of law was being put at risk.

Evidence had been ‘deliberately suppressed’ he said – insisting that there would not have been the same censorship at Westminster.

He also alleged that ‘pressure’ had been put on the police and witnesses during the criminal case, including by Ms Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell, the SNP chief executive.

The bruising evidence has raised serious questions about Ms Sturgeon’s leadership and involvement in the inquiry into Salmond.

She faces a separate inquiry into whether she broke the ministerial code by lying to parliament about when she first heard of the allegations against Mr Salmond in 2018.

Such a shocking development could leave the SNP without a leader in Scotland ahead of the local elections in May, where the party is still expected to be victorious

Mr Salmond said Ms Sturgeon had been informed of the complaints against him by March 29, 2018 at the latest – rather than four days later (April 2) as she originally claimed.

‘We have lost first ministers through resignations here in Scotland for far less than what Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of,’ Mr Ross told the publication ahead of Mr Salmond’s evidence.

‘I think there is a lot to come not just this year but in the next few weeks that would really threaten her as the head of the SNP and as First Minister. And that’s before we even get into the election campaign.’

Mr Ross also urged the Cabinet Office to investigate whether Scottish civil servants broke the code of conduct in their handling of complaints against Alex Salmond.

Alex Salmond leaves the Scottish Parliament on February 26 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He gave evidence to a Parliamentary probe into the handling of complaints made against him

Mr Salmond gave his shocking evidence in the Robert Burns Room in person yesterday afternoon rather than over video link

He gave particular mention of Permanent Secretary Leslie Evans, Scotland’s top civil servant, who oversaw the inquiry into Mr Salmond that described by a judge as unlawful, ‘procedurally unfair’ and ‘tainted by apparent bias’.

The mishandling of complaints led to Mr Salmond winning a judicial review which award him more than £500,000 for legal expenses.

Her line manager is effectively Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary and head of the UK civil service, meaning he has the power to look into her conduct.

‘Leslie Evans has to be answerable for her conduct and the questions that will arise from the Scottish Parliament committee,’ Mr Ross told The Telegraph

He added that once the Scottish parliament had concluded it’s work, UK civil service chiefs should look into what happened.

Labour interim Scottish leader Jackie Baillie agreed that Alex Salmond’s evidence to a Holyrood committee ‘poses serious questions for Nicola Sturgeon and the Scottish Government’.

Allegations, discussions, denials and a ‘forgotten’ key meeting between Sturgeon and Salmond

November 2017: Allegations regarding Alex Salmond’s behaviour are raised with the SNP by Sky News.

Nicola Sturgeon said she spoke to him about this – and he ‘denied it’. No further action was taken.

March 29, 2018: Ms Sturgeon meets Geoff Aberdein – Mr Salmon’s chief of staff – in her Scottish parliament office where she has admitted they discussed the possibility of a meeting with Mr Salmond. Ms Sturgeon – after initially forgetting about this meeting – says there was ‘the suggestion that the matter might relate to allegations of a sexual nature’.

April 2, 2018: Ms Sturgeon and Mr Salmond meet at the First Minister’s home. According to Ms Sturgeon, this is the first time she heard of the complaints made against him. Despite this, she has insisted that the matters discussed were party business.

September 14, 2018: A judicial review is launched after complaints by Mr Salmond over the fairness with how the claims against him were handled.

January 8, 2019: The Scottish government conceded defeat in the judicial review a week before it was due to launch. Mr Salmond wins £500,000 in legal fees. The court ruled the probe into Mr Salmond had been unlawful and tainted by apparent bias.

January 2019: Ms Sturgeon tells MSPs that Mr Salmond first told her about a probe into him on April 2.

March 23, 2020: Alex Salmond is cleared of all sexual assault charges and his supporters demanded a full inquiry into the Scottish Government’s handling of the scandal.

October 7, 2020: Ms Sturgeon claims she ‘forgot’ about March 29, 2018, meeting with Mr Aberdein.

January 24, 2021: Speaking on the Andrew Marr show, Ms Sturgeon denies misleading the Scottish Parliament after ‘forgetting’ to tell MSPs about her meeting with Mr Salmond’s aide on March 29, 2018.

February 2021: The High Court in Edinburgh rules Mr Salmond’s evidence claiming his former chief of staff met with Ms Sturgeon on March 28, 2018, to discuss sexual assault allegations against the former first minister can be released.

Responding to the evidence provided yesterday, Ms Baillie said: ‘The former First Minister’s testimony to the committee, including his assertion that the First Minister broke the Ministerial Code, poses serious questions for Nicola Sturgeon and the Scottish Government.

‘Mr Salmond’s allegation that the name of a complainant was made known to his former chief of staff prior to a meeting between him and the First Minister is nothing short of explosive.

‘Not only would the act of making the name of a complainant known be a grave failure to protect the person in question, the First Minister’s response to this allegation yesterday may have misled Parliament and so broken the Ministerial Code.

‘Mr Salmond’s claim that the leak of documents to the Daily Record was “politically inspired” is incredibly serious and demands investigation by the Police.

‘The claim that during the civil and criminal cases the Crown Office was not made aware of vital documents that have since been passed to the committee by the Scottish Government beggars belief.’

Ms Sturgeon has previously insisted there is ‘not a shred of evidence’ that there was a conspiracy against Mr Salmond and she has denied lying to Parliament.

She is scheduled to appear before the committee to give evidence next Wednesday.

Ms Baillie added: ‘It is clear that Mr Salmond believes the First Minister has failed to follow the Ministerial Code on multiple occasions and that the Permanent Secretary has failed to follow the Civil Service code.

‘The First Minister and the Lord Advocate have big questions to answer when they come before the Committee next week.

‘I will be encouraging my colleagues on the committee to use our powers to serve a Section 23 notice on Mr Salmond’s solicitors so that we may receive vital documents that have so far been withheld from us.

‘Mr Salmond was correct when he said that this investigation was not about him, it is about the women who were so catastrophically failed, and this committee is determined to discover who is responsible for this failure however inconvenient that truth may be.’

But a spokesman for the First Minister said yesterday: ‘The people of Scotland have shown, in poll after poll and election after election, that they back the leadership of the SNP and of Nicola Sturgeon.

‘Today was Alex Salmond’s chance to provide proof of the conspiracy which has been alleged – and he did not do so.

‘Instead, under oath, he explicitly conceded there was no such evidence against the First Minister, and also gave testimony which directly undermined some of the central planks of the conspiracy theories.

‘The First Minister now looks forward to addressing all of the issues Mr Salmond raised – and much more besides – when she finally gets the opportunity to address the committee next week.’