LONDON (Reuters) – Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon misled a parliamentary committee investigating her administration’s handling of sexual misconduct allegations against her predecessor, the committee has concluded, according to a report by a Sky News journalist.
The issue of how Sturgeon, her party and her government dealt with allegations against her former ally and mentor Alex Salmond, has escalated into a major threat to her leadership and to her dream of leading Scotland to independence.
“First Minister Nicola Sturgeon misled Parliament, concludes Holyrood harassment committee,” said James Matthews, Sky’s Scotland bureau chief, in a Tweet. The Scottish parliament is based in Holyrood, Edinburgh.
Matthews said the committee, which heard lengthy evidence from Sturgeon on March 3, said she had given “an inaccurate account of what happened and she has misled the committee on this matter”.
If confirmed, such a finding would put Sturgeon under intense pressure to resign, upending Scottish politics just as crucial elections loom in May.
Sturgeon leads the Scottish National Party (SNP), the dominant party in the country. Prior to the Salmond controversy blowing up, the SNP was expected to win an absolute majority in the Scottish parliament, which Sturgeon has argued would give her a mandate to demand a second referendum on independence.
Recent polls have shown the bad blood between her and Salmond, who led the SNP for years before she did, had already dented the party’s lead. Sturgeon’s resignation would likely cause chaos in the SNP’s election campaign.
Salmond, who stood trial on charges of sexual assault and was acquitted, has portrayed himself as the victim of a conspiracy to drive him out of public life. Sturgeon has rejected that as absurd.
(Reporting by Estelle Shirbon; editing by Michael Holden)
