Nicola Sturgeon was paid £25k as TV general election pundit | Politics News

Former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon – who is still a serving politician – pocketed £25,000 for a night shift as a TV election pundit.

The 54-year-old resigned from her role as SNP leader last year before being arrested and released as part of a long-running police probe of the party’s finances.

Ms Sturgeon remains a member of the Scottish Parliament for the Glasgow Southside area.

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It has emerged she enjoyed a £25,000 pay cheque for her overnight appearance on the ITV News general election programme in July.

The ex-first minster also had her £2,800 hotel room paid for by the broadcaster and travel expenses totalling more than £800.

The SNP previously demanded former Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson quit Holyrood and hand the money back when she took a similar pundit role while being a serving politician.

Angus Robertson, now a Scottish Government minister, said at the time that constituents “deserve an MSP that will put their constituents first”.

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Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy said: “Having the ITV fee paid to her company is clearly a ruse to avoid paying the higher rates of income tax her incompetent SNP Government have imposed on hard-working Scots and which she personally championed.

“So much for those with the broadest shoulders bearing the heaviest burden. It’s hard not to conclude that Nicola Sturgeon is an utter fraud.”

Sky News understands that any income paid to Ms Sturgeon personally would be taxed as income in the normal way and that she has not received any income from her company.

A spokeswoman for Ms Sturgeon told Sky News: “Nicola was paid the fee offered by ITV for her appearance on the election results programme and has registered it accordingly.”

Police Scotland says Ms Sturgeon remains a suspect in the SNP criminal investigation surrounding their funding and finances. She has insisted she is innocent.

Her husband, former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, has been charged in connection with embezzlement as part of the same probe.