Badenoch vows to end dual role of lord advocate

Ms Badenoch described the arrangement surrounding the lord advocate as an “absurd state of affairs”, amid mounting political fallout at Holyrood.

The controversy erupted after it emerged that Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC sent a minute to First Minister John Swinney in January disclosing details of allegations against the former SNP chief executive, Peter Murrell.

Ms Bain told MSPs that the email was intended to notify John Swinney of a “significant development” in the case against Mr Murrell – who is Nicola Sturgeon’s estranged husband – and to “ensure the government is reminded of its legal responsibilities to restrict its comments”.

Opposition parties argued that the communication conferred a political benefit on Mr Swinney.

The lord advocate’s role as both a director of public prosecutions and attorney general is embedded in the Scotland Act, meaning any alteration would require action at Westminster.

Addressing the Scottish Tory conference in Edinburgh on Friday, Ms Badenoch said: “Just a few days ago, we learned that the lord advocate gave John Swinney a tip off about the details of the charges. This smacks of corruption.

“It is an absurd state of affairs that the lord advocate is currently in charge of an organisation prosecuting a case against a senior SNP figure whilst being in the SNP government’s cabinet.

“Today, I can announce that the Conservatives would end this conflict of interest and split the lord advocate’s role so that this never happens again.”

“The key thing is that it has to happen at Westminster, so I’d be looking to our Scottish MPs to look at all the possible avenues,” she said.

“There are multiple avenues that you could try, but we would need the support of certainly many more people across the House – this can’t just be a Conservative issue.”