The SNP has been accused of operating under a “veil of secrecy” after it emerged that the party’s chief executive – and husband of Nicola Sturgeon – loaned it more than £100,000 to help with cash flow following the 2021 Holyrood election.

Peter Murrell, who has been the SNP’s chief executive since 1999, gave a loan of £107,620 to the party in June that year following the vote.

The loan was first reported by the Wings over Scotland website on Tuesday.

Instalments of more than £20,000 were paid by the party to Murrell to reimburse him in August and October last year.

However, the Electoral Commission was not notified until August 2022.

The SNP said that the loan had been recorded in its 2021 accounts and was reported at that time to the Commission as a regulated transaction.

In May last year, SNP MP Douglas Chapman resigned as the national treasurer of the party, claiming that he had not been given enough information to do his job.

A spokesperson for the party explained that the transaction was initially not thought to give rise to a reporting obligation.

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