Nicola Sturgeon has received the first instalment of £75,000 from her £300,000 book deal with Pan Macmillan, according to the Scottish Parliament's register of interests. The former First Minister declared the payment in August, the same month she announced plans to write a 'deeply personal and revealing' memoir.
The book deal is structured in four instalments, with the first already pocketed by Sturgeon. Brand experts have suggested she could earn over £1 million within a year from the memoir, TV appearances, and keynote speeches.
However, an ongoing investigation into SNP finances, which has seen Sturgeon, her husband Peter Murrell, and former treasurer Colin Beattie arrested and released without charge, may limit what she can disclose in the book.
Critics have condemned the payment. Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy said: 'SNP MPs and MSPs will be spitting feathers that Nicola Sturgeon is already raking in huge sums for her memoirs while they are left to deal with the chaos, division and scandal she’s left behind.'
A spokeswoman for Sturgeon stated: 'As she has previously said, Nicola will register all payments in line with Parliament rules as they are received.'
