Investigation clears Nicola Sturgeon of breaching ministerial code

Nicola Sturgeon did not breach the ministerial code, an independent investigation has concluded, in a decision that will hugely ease the pressure on the Scottish first minister.

The report by James Hamilton, who was head of the Irish prosecution service from 1999 to 2011, reviewed Sturgeon’s response to sexual harassment complaints against her predecessor and former mentor Alex Salmond.

“I welcome the conclusions of James Hamilton’s independent investigation, which are comprehensive, evidence-based and unequivocal,” Sturgeon said in a statement. “Mr Hamilton has considered all of the allegations against me, and I am happy that his report’s findings clear me of any breach of the ministerial code.”

Hamilton’s report was the result of a referral from Sturgeon herself in January 2019, when she came under opposition pressure over a series of meetings she had with Salmond after he in 2018 became the subject of a civil service-led investigation in the complaints against him by two female officials.

A report by a separate parliamentary inquiry into the government’s handling of the complaints will be published on Tuesday morning.

A majority of the members of that committee agreed that Sturgeon had misled them by giving “an inaccurate account” of a 2018 meeting with Salmond at which the complaints against him were discussed, according to people familiar with their deliberations. The members concluded that this was a “potential breach” of the Scottish ministerial code.

In January 2019, the Scottish government was forced to concede in court that its investigation into harassment complaints against Salmond by two civil servants had been unlawful because it was “procedurally unfair” and “tainted by apparent bias”. At a criminal trial last year, the former first minister was acquitted of all 13 sexual offence charges against him.