The co-leader of the Scottish Greens has said he deleted a message praising Peter Murrell because ‘he wasn’t the man I thought he was’.

Ross Greer had posted on social media in 2023 lavishing praise on Murrell after he quit as SNP chief executive amid a membership numbers scandal and the Operation Branchform investigation.

In the message, he said Murrell helped him secure a 25 per cent pay rise when he was working for Yes Scotland during the independence referendum campaign.

But he subsequently deleted the post after Nicola Sturgeon’s estranged husband pled guilty to embezzling more than £400,000.

Asked on Monday why he deleted the message, Mr Greer said: ‘Peter Murrell wasn’t the man that I thought he was.

‘People far closer to him were betrayed by him. He took money from SNP members – I obviously wasn’t affected by that – but he wasn’t the man I thought he was. 

'That tweet was reflecting the fact that I was paid far less than my colleagues at Yes Scotland for doing the same job, for reasons probably just related to my age.

‘He stood up for me – he didn’t need to, it wasn’t his organisation, he was just somebody in a position of influence and he stood up for me as I was being underpaid and I appreciated that.’

He also defended his party’s decision to oppose a Holyrood inquiry into the scandal.

Mr Greer said he wasn’t elected ‘to launch quasi-investigations into other parties.’ 

He added: ‘That is not the Scottish parliament’s job; that is the Electoral Commission’s job, the job of the police, the job of the Crown. They’ve all done their job here.’

Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: ‘The Greens are more interested in protecting the SNP than standing up for the people of Scotland.’