SNP chief executive Peter Murrell resigns amid membership row

Departure of Murrell, husband of Nicola Sturgeon, comes day after media chief quit

The chief executive of the Scottish National party has resigned with immediate effect as an escalating row over party membership figures engulfs the party's senior echelons, prompting demands for an overhaul of how it carries out its internal business.

Peter Murrell, who has been chief executive since 2000 and married Nicola Sturgeon in 2010, said he had planned to step down after the leadership contest to replace his wife had concluded, but was doing so now because my future has become a distraction from the campaign".