A political tsunami

SNP facing electoral oblivion after darkest day in its history

- PAUL HUTCHEON

NICOLA Sturgeon’s arrest in a police probe into party finances is the darkest day in the SNP’s 89-year history. 

It leaves the party she led for nearly a decade in turmoil and facing electoral oblivion.

The SNP/Green Government is in a tailspin and struggling to lift itself out of Sturgeon's shadow.

And the independence movement is fractured, rudderless and hopelessly divided.

Operation Branchform, which has been looking into how nearly £600,000 of IndyRef2 donations were spent, did not unduly concern party bosses at the outset.

Maverick independence supporter Sean Clerkin was among the original complainers and it was felt the probe would fizzle out.

But the long-running investigation now threatens to derail a party that has dominated Scottish politics for more than a decade.

Sturgeon - who was released without charge last night remains the country's pre-eminent politician and her arrest is a political earthquake that has rocked Scotland.

She contested eight elections in her nine years in charge and won them all.

Her household name status was secured when she fronted televised press conferences during the pandemic.

Alex Salmond getting charged over multiple sexual offences claims was a massive story but the Sturgeon arrest is bigger.

Even the staunchest critics of her successor Humza Yousaf may feel a pang of sympathy for the new First Minister.