Another and slightly slanderous and undermining dig at Nicola complete with (made up?) quotes form anonymous senior SNP sources....Its horrifying to think the Sunday Herald is the best mainstream news source Scotlands got! FULL TEXT BELOW Sturgeon set to be namedas SNP leader but insists she and chief exec husband will not wield too much power inside party Tom Gordon Scottish Political Editor Sunday 12 October 2014 NICOLA Sturgeon has denied she and her husband Peter Murrell would wield an unhealthy amount of power over the SNP if she is confirmed as the partys next leader this week. Nicola Sturgeon and her husband Peter Murrell are comfortable with each holding a high position in the SNP.Photograph: Nick Ponty Nicola Sturgeon and her husband Peter Murrell are comfortable with each holding a high position in the SNP.Photograph: Nick Ponty Sturgeon, who is expected to be named as Alex Salmonds successor unopposed on Wednesday, said she was comfortable with being leader while Murrell is the partys chief executive. However, some SNP members are uneasy at the prospect, fearing it will put an unprecedented amount of power in the hands of one couple. Some also worry that, with Sturgeons mother Joan as the Provost of North Ayrshire Council, it makes the SNP look like a Labour-style family business rather than a modernising force. One senior SNP source said: Some of us dont really want an alternative Royal Family. We want a new Scotland based on meritocracy. Another senior party insider said: Its not ideal, especially looked at from outside. The perception is that its a bit incestuous, that too much power is in the one household. Talking to the Sunday Herald, Sturgeon stressed that most of the administrative oversight of the SNP is conducted by business convener Derek Mackay, rather than her husband. Asked about fears she and Murrell would be an overbearing power couple if she became leader, Sturgeon said: Ive been deputy leader for years while Peters been chief executive for 10 years. Thats not been an issue thats given rise to any concern internally. In the constitution of the SNP, the oversight of the administrative side of the party lies with the business convener, not with the leader. So Im comfortable there are no issues that arise. According to the SNP constitution, Mackay chairs the main decision-making bodies and runs operational matters including membership, campaign co-ordination and internal affairs. However, the constitution also says the leader appoints the business convener each year, putting Mackays fate in Sturgeons hands. The SNPs annual report says Murrell is responsible for the day-to-day running of SNP activities and projects. However, the party declined to provide his full job description. Asked if party members could still complain about her if her husband was chief executive, Sturgeon said: Absolutely. The business convener deals with the internal democracy and the whole oversight of administration. So that gives a route. It wouldnt be the chief executive who would deal with a complaint about the leader if I was the leader, it would be the business convener. Looking back at the referendum, Sturgeon also defended the SNP policy on a currency union, saying it was right to advocate sharing the pound - a policy the Unionist parties blocked - rather than advance a new Scottish currency, as many in the Yes campaign had wanted. She said: I think we were in the right position on currency because other positions would have been just as difficult. Others take a different view on that. I dont think [a different currency proposal] would have made a fundamental difference. By the time we got to the last couple of weeks of the campaign ... currency was not what was stopping people voting Yes in my opinion, there was a multitude of different factors at play. The two things in the latter period were general understandable human anxieties about the unknown and being told we can get something [The Vow] that takes us a long way without all that. Probably that was the most significant factor to those who wanted to vote Yes but didnt. Sturgeon, 44, and Murrell, 51, were married in Glasgow in 2010 after a seven-year courtship. Opponents have sought to exploit their relationship to score points in the past. In September 2012, Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont used First Ministers Questions to ask whether it was right for Sturgeon to get free prescriptions when she lived in a household with an income of over £200,000 a year. At the time, Sturgeon earned just over £100,000 as an MSP and minister and Murrells salary in 2011 was £109,000. It fell to £77,000 in 2012 and was omitted from the SNP accounts in 2013. heraldscotland/politics/scottish-politics/sturgeon-set-to-be-named-as-snp-leader-but-insists-she-and-chief-exec-hus.25561875
Posted on: Sun, 12 Oct 2014 08:48:35 +0000
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