media about party membership numbers. he had been set to face a no confidence had he not step down. the party told the bbc a three weeks ago they had been a big drop in membership numbers which actually contradicted an earlier denial that that was the case. party president, he was party president, former chief executive. that is not correct. he was a hugely influential figure executive. that is not correct. he was a hugely influentialfigure in the party. he was chief executive since 1999 and was responsible for the day to day running of the snp. so this was a hugely significant story. just a reminder of that very little information we have got from police scotland saying that these investigations into scottish national party funding and finances have led to the arrest of a 58 year old man as a suspect in
married to the. he is married to the former party leader nicola sturgeon, no longer first minister of scotland or leader of the snp, in fact. he said that he had become a distraction to the leadership race and that is why he resigned. he was set to face a vote of no confidence had he not stepped down. while there had he not stepped down. while there had been a big drop in membership numbers, this is all about information that was put out to the media around troop membership numbers. and some miscommunications about what had gone on there. he was about what had gone on there. he was a hugely influentialfigure in the party for many years. let s talk to our correspondent who can bring it up to date on this. alexandra, this news just breaking. up to date on this. alexandra, this newsjust breaking. not up to date on this. alexandra, this news just breaking. not a lot of information just yet but just a little bit more about peter murrell and what we know so far. we have
the cost of living crisis. yes, we need immediate solutions to the cost of living crisis engulfing so many families and pensioners, like using a proper windfall tax to cut energy bills. but we need far more than that, too. the interim chief executive of the scottish national party, michael russell, says the party is in as a tremendous mess . he replaces peter murrell, who s married to scotland s first minister, the outgoing party leader, nicola sturgeon. he resigned, taking responsibility for misleading journalists who asked about the snp s membership numbers. it lost 30,000 members injust over a year. mr russell, said trust in the party needed to be rebuilt. there is a tremendous mess and we have to clear it up, and that is the task that i am trying to take on in the short term, and the most important thing in that short term,
working tirelessly until we reach a comprehensive agreement on the normalization of their relationship. an earthquake has struck ecuador, killing at least 12 people. the quake with a magnitude of 6.8 could be felt in half of ecuador s provinces and buildings have damaged in several cities. the tremor was also felt in northern peru. this is the strongest quake to hit ecuador since twenty 16, when nearly 700 people died and thousands were injured. peter murrell, the scottish national party s chief executive who s married to nicola sturgeon, has resigned with immediate effect. the move comes after a week of chaos in the snp, with the party forced to confirm a massive drop in membership numbers, and two of the candidates in the current leadership race questioning the election process. the bbc s scotland editor james cook reports.