Sturgeon passes SNP election vetting

To Scotland, where the SNP is hard at work vetting its candidates for the 2026 Holyrood poll. But in typical Nat fashion, the rather non-transparent process has prompted questions about how thorough the whole thing really is – after it emerged via party insiders that both Nicola Sturgeon and Colin Beattie of Operation Branchform fame have been allowed to run as election candidates. How very interesting.

The SNP’s former Dear Leader has so far refused to say whether she will indeed stand for reelection in 2026 while Beattie, the party’s ex-treasurer, is thought likely to do so. The pair were arrested in 2023 over the police probe into the SNP’s funds and finances – and while Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell was arrested last year, the two were released pending further inquiries. Yet despite still being under investigation by the authorities, the Nats have deemed the duo eligible candidates and First Minister John Swinney even suggested he was ‘comfortable’ with the party’s vetting decisions.