A committee of MSPs have concluded the first minister misled the Scottish parliament
The committee said that Sturgeon gave an “inaccurate” account of a meeting she had with Alex Salmond during a live investigation.
Salmond is Sturgeon’s predecessor, and resigned from the party in 2018 over allegations of sexual misconduct.
In January 2019, he was charged with 14 offences – including attempted rape and sexual assault – but was acquitted of all charges in March last year.
Following the committee’s findings, the next stage of the inquiry will be to see if Sturgeon misled the Scottish parliament knowingly – which would be a serious violation of the Ministerial Code.
Should this be the case, Sturgeon will come under increasing pressure to resign.
This will not be welcome news for the SNP, who have already seen a drop in public support following their recent controversies ahead of the local elections in May.
While the party still enjoy a huge lead in the polls at 46 per cent, the recent fall may result in them losing their majority at Holyrood.
