Nicola Sturgeon being cleared by police will quietly be a relief for the SNP - and a huge election boost
Politically, the SNP will be quietly relieved that Nicola Sturgeon is no longer under police investigation.
With Nicola Sturgeon no longer under police investigation, the SNP will be breathing a sigh of relief - at least for now.
Operation Branchform has been hanging over the former first minister for 649 days - almost two years for Ms Sturgeon to go about her life with the stench of a police investigation looming.
She was never charged of any wrongdoing and now has finally seen her name cleared by police as part of their investigation into SNP finances, which in its entirety has run for a whopping 1,338 days.
And First Minister John Swinney gave a hint of how Ms Sturgeon being cleared will be a relief for the party, saying it left the SNP in a “clearer position”.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon: Never a 'scrap of evidence' against me in Police Scotland SNP finances probe
Notwithstanding Ms Sturgeon being a close friend and former colleague of the current first minister, the ending of a police probe hanging over her will no doubt be seen as great news politically by Mr Swinney.
But it will also potentially help the SNP in the polls with the public, which took a huge hit when Ms Sturgeon quit in February 2023 and was arrested three months later.
Speaking hours after being told by police she was no longer under investigation, Ms Sturgeon stressed it was “the outcome I would have always expected”, but insisted it was “a relief now to have that confirmed”.
The former first minister told journalists she was “a stronger person today than I was when this kicked off” almost two years ago.
Asked to sum up how she felt, Ms Sturgeon stated it was “relief”, but also a “bit of vindication as well". And you can see where Ms Sturgeon is coming from.
Her name has been dragged through the mud over the past two years, her reputation and her legacy left in tatters. And when she leaves frontline politics in 13 months’ time, Ms Sturgeon will now have the chance to rebuild her credibility.
For the SNP, this will, quietly, be seen as good news.
Despite her husband and former SNP chief executive, Peter Murrell, appearing in court charged with embezzlement, the ending of a police investigation for the former first minister is potentially a huge boost.
Since Mr Swinney oversaw the disastrous general election last year, with the damage from Operation Branchform and Humza Yousaf’s shambolic exit from office already done, the First Minister has steadied the SNP ship and got them back into a position that puts the party in pole position to hang onto power at the 2026 Holyrood election.
A big chunk of the damage done to the SNP’s reputation with the public was having the former first minister, someone whom Mr Swinney has admitted is a divisive character, under active police investigation.
With that cloud lifted, despite the ongoing court proceedings, the SNP can go into the Holyrood election with more confidence that it can regain the trust of the public.
There is a long way to go, and we don’t know what any legal proceedings into the SNP’s finances will throw up.
But many people across Scotland will be looking at the situation Ms Sturgeon has been embroiled in and their immediate thought will be why has the police taken so long to clear someone they found no evidence of wrongdoing. That narrative will do Ms Sturgeon and the SNP no harm at all.