Nicola Sturgeon said she “should not be held responsible for the wrongdoing of men” after Peter Murrell, her estranged husband, admitted to embezzling hundreds of thousands of pounds from the SNP this week.

The former Scottish first minister told an audience at the Hay festival in Wales on Friday: “My picture has been on more front pages in Scotland this week than my former husband’s has, and I don’t think that’s right.”

Murrell, 61, pleaded guilty at the high court in Edinburgh on Monday to embezzling more than £400,000 from the SNP between 2010 and 2022, while he was chief executive of the party. He spent the money on luxury items including two cars, a motorhome, jewellery and cosmetics.…