The SNP’s membership has plummeted to 64,525, almost half its 2019 peak of 125,691 members.

Details of the fall in activists were recorded in the party’s most recent accounts filed with the Electoral Commission.

Party treasurer Stuart McDonald, the former MP for Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East, said “cost of living pressures” were to blame.

“The party continues to seek to pre-empt cancellations by offering membership payment options such as skip, holiday or reduced giving,” he said.

“At all levels we need to redouble our efforts to recruit new members from the many supporters we identify every week.”

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The accounts show that the SNP has recorded a surplus of £661,568 for the year ending December 2023 thanks to a levy imposed on local branches. Last year’s accounts recorded a deficit of £804,278.

However, they also come with a health warning from the independent auditors, who offer a qualified opinion as some financial paperwork is missing.

The accounts state that some “cash and cheques received, relating to membership, donations and raffle income were not kept by the Party prior to July 2023”.

The auditor goes “We have been unable to satisfy ourselves by alternative means regarding the completeness of income for the current and prior year in respect of the above limitation in scope.

“Consequently, we are unable to determine whether any adjustment to income is necessary in the current year or prior year and the potential impact on opening reserves accordingly.”

They add that other information in the accounts may therefore “be materially misstated.”

A similar warning was issued with last year's report 

The accounts says they cannot and do not comment “on any matters subject to ongoing police investigation.”

Peter Murrell, the SNP’s former chief executive, and the husband of former first minister Nicola Sturgeon was charged in connection with the embezzlement of funds from the party in April.

He resigned from his post in March last year.

The accounts show the party still owes him £60,000 to repay a 2021 loan.

Last year, the SNP implemented two branch levies totalling £670,000. One was to fund the Rutherglen end Hamilton West by-election campaign, and the second was to fund the UK general election campaign.

The party also took in legacies of £274,408, though the party points out that “while this income is recognised in the 2023 accounts, it has not actually yet been received” and there are “significant outstanding sums from legacies notified in previous years.”

This makes up the large majority of the £557,137 accrued Income showing as current assets on the accounts.

The party also reports that they have been notified of a new legacy of £250,000 from a single source, though notes that “this amount cannot be confirmed until Probate has been granted and as such this amount has not be recognised as income or a debtor In these financial statements.”

The Scottish Conservatives said the accounts “continue to raise serious questions for the SNP”.

Chairman Craig Hoy said of the party: “They are astonishingly still in debt to the tune of £60,000 to their disgraced former chief executive Peter Murrell.

“It is now three years since they made any repayment on that loan.

“The SNP must explain why they have not severed all ties with him and when they are going to do the right thing and pay this money back.”

Mr Hoy also said auditors had “again raised concerns over the party’s book-keeping in relation to how they documented income that was received through membership and fundraisers, which is highly irregular and meant they could only provide a qualified audit”.

The SNP said it would be “inappropriate” to comment on the loan from Mr Murrell while the police investigation into party finances is ongoing.

A source told PA: “The Tories are bankrolled by Russians and donors they themselves have called ‘racist’ while the SNP is financed by ordinary Scots. Like the Scottish Tories, these comments are nonsensical and pointless."

Scottish Labour deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie said: “It’s clear for all to see that the SNP is deep in financial chaos.

“As outstanding bills are left unpaid, the SNP is facing an exodus of party members and dwindling numbers of donors.

“The simple fact is that the people of Scotland no longer view the tired, scandal-ridden and incompetent SNP as a serious party of government.

“Only Scottish Labour is ready to replace the SNP, clean up our politics and deliver the change Scotland needs.”

However, across the UK, Labour too saw a drop in membership, losing 37,000 over the course of 2023, bringing its total membership at the end of the year to 370,450.

While still the largest party in the UK, the figure is well down on its peak of 532,046 in 2019, when Jeremy Corbyn was in charge.