The SNP lost 2017 General Election due to inadequate planning. Sturgeon rewarded Murrell by doubling his salary and extending his contract. He responded by ripping off a huge amount of Party finances

Jan 2017: The million plus Unionist Petition to Westminster demanded an end to Independence electioneering

Figures posted in the media suggested that the outcome of another referendum would result in a: 48.00% “Yes” vote in favour of independence with 52.00% preferring to remain with the Union. 

Early warnings predicted a loss of around 25 seats in the 2017 General Election.

This important information should have allowed Murrell to forward plan the SNP May 2017 electioneering strategy.

The 2017 General Election in Scotland first exposed Scottish voters to “data mining”. A new form of politics imported from the USA, providing tools and profiling information allowing Tory candidates to communicate personally with their prospective constituents.

The benefits were astounding. The Tories gained a stunning result, increasing their MP’s from 1 to 13 in total.

Tory candidates had been well briefed about the individual targets within their constituencies. The new voting strategy used predictive data models which identified, engaged and persuaded swing voters to turnout.

This was achieved through the use of internet, phone and personal surveys combined with many other data sets, created by teams of contracted data scientists, psychologists and political consultants allowing the campaign to map the Scottish electorate based on ideology, demographics, religious beliefs, strongly held opinions on key issues e.g. Independence, the Orange Lodge, Celtic, Rangers, The SNP and or political personalities.

The information gathered provided Tory campaign strategists with a predictive analysis based on thousands of data points on just about every voter in Scotland.

From that teams of political consultants and psychologists, hired by the Party directed the campaign and candidates on what and how to say it to selected groups of voters.

Other voter targeting, included use of Facebook adverts, one to one scripted phone calls and provision of the content of messages for door-to-door canvassers ensuring consistent communication with voters on any issue.

What won the day for the Tory party in 2017 was that they utilised “data mining” to gain a comprehensive understanding of the Scottish electorate and then used every communication aid available facilitating discussions with voters about matters important to them as individuals.

Throughout the campaign the Tory tactic was to constantly broadcast the “no new referendum” message in the “no” constituencies stressing the major difference between the Tory and any other candidates firmly imprinting this in the electorate’s minds.

In contrast the SNP campaign lacked inspiration. Murrell starved “at risk” constituencies of financial resources and failed to get the SNP voters out. Had he been the chief strategist of any political party other than the SNP he would have been given his marching orders.

Incredulously the First Minister, (his wife), supported by other members of the SNP executive Swinney, Robertson, doubled his salary and extended his contract of employment.

Recent revelations indicate that Murrell’s systematic misappropriation of SNP finances vastly increased in the weeks before and after the election suggesting that that SNP finances may have been insufficient to meet the demands of the 2017 General Election campaign by design.