A campervan float at an historic Scottish festival has mocked Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell. The motorhome was towed through Lauder as part of the town's annual Common Riding, with two locals dressed as the former first minister and her estranged husband.
Banners attached to the vehicle joked: "New campervan eye test here - approved alternative to the Barnard Castle eye test" and "parked round the side", a reference to Sturgeon's claim she never saw the vehicle. The local dressed as Murrell showed off watches on his wrist, while two others posed as police officers.
Float takes third prize
Despite attracting attention and being widely shared on social media, the float only claimed third prize in the vehicle category of the festival's fancy dress competition. One organiser told the Record it was "just a bit of fun to make people laugh" and not meant as a political statement.
The campervan was a central piece of evidence against Murrell, who was jailed for five years after pleading guilty to embezzlement in May. The luxury motorhome was bought with £124,000 of the £400,000 he stole from the SNP.
Background of the motorhome
Murrell, 61, used the stolen cash to buy luxury goods including cars, cosmetics, jewellery, gardening equipment and fountain pens. The Niesmann and Bischoff motorhome, bought in October 2020, was later parked outside his mother's home in Fife.
The Record reported the campervan was supposedly for the SNP's 2021 Holyrood campaign but was never used. Prosecutors cast doubt on that explanation, saying there was no evidence it was intended for political purposes. Sturgeon has denied knowledge of the offending, claiming she only became aware of the motorhome in 2023 when police searched her home.
The fancy dress competition is part of a week of festivities in Lauderdale, culminating in horse riders circling the town's boundaries.
