Whistleblowers have accused John Swinney of ‘appalling judgment’ for making a former senior SNP figure his victims minister despite concerns over her handling of the Peter Murrell scandal.

The First Minister came under fire for handing the role to former SNP business convener Kirsten Oswald.

Allison Graham and Cynthia Guthrie, who accused Nicola Sturgeon and other senior SNP figures of bullying them when they raised questions about the party’s finances five years ago, also urged opposition parties to hold a vote of no confidence in Ms Oswald, the former East Renfrewshire MP.

She faced questions over her role in the response to Ms Graham trying to sound the alarm about the SNP’s finances, and has previously been accused of shutting down complaints.

These included a complaint by a young worker who was harassed by former MP Patrick Grady, and she was also alleged to have been informed of concerns about former Nationalist council leader Jordan Linden.

Ms Graham told the Sunday Mail: ‘She is supposed to be the “victims minister” and whistleblowers have got to have confidence that she has their back.

‘But she has demonstrated that her intent was to close things down and to allow a vile attack. She not only didn’t step in, she joined in. It’s an absolutely appalling judgment call from John Swinney.’

Ms Graham accused Ms Oswald, Ms Sturgeon and other members of the SNP’s national executive committee of having ‘emboldened’ Murrell when they dismissed questions about the party’s finances.

She also told the Sunday Times that Ms Oswald played a central role in restricting questions about the finances, and she said opposition parties should consider a confidence vote.

Ms Graham said: ‘What trust would you have in someone who basically has got a proven track record for allowing this to happen to people in her own party?

‘If I was advising anyone in here, I would be saying that is absolutely something they should consider doing.’

Ms Oswald has previously denied the claims, saying: ‘It’s clear where the wrongdoing lies, and that lies with Peter Murrell. I don’t think I’m known as someone who shuts down debate.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The First Minister has appointed Kirsten Oswald as Minister for Community Safety, and she is focused on delivering on people’s priorities, and putting victims and witnesses at the heart of Scotland’s justice system.’

A spokesman for the SNP said: ‘As business convener, Kirsten Oswald was committed to transparency and she ensured that updates from NEC meetings were displayed on the party website following meetings.

‘No complaint of bullying has been received regarding these matters. The criminal wrongdoing of Peter Murrell was uncovered by a complex and extensive police investigation years after the events in question.’

The spokesman insisted that it was the SNP which was ‘the victim of that wrongdoing’.

The whistleblowers last week accused Mr Swinney of being in denial when he rejected claims they were bullied by Ms Sturgeon and other senior SNP figures.

In an interview with the Scottish Sun newspaper, HR executive Ms Guthrie and business analyst Ms Graham, who both held unpaid roles on the SNP’s finance and audit committee in 2021, criticised Mr Swinney and Ms Sturgeon for ‘enabling’ Murrell’s £400,000 fraud, and for both making repeated public statements denying that money had gone missing from the SNP’s coffers.

Asked if he would apologise to the two women in Holyrood last week, Mr Swinney said only that he had ‘apologised to members of the Scottish National Party for the events that have affected the party’s finances and I reiterate those today’.

Afterwards, Mr Swinney again refused to directly apologise to Ms Guthrie and Ms Graham, saying only that he had ‘apologised to all party members’.

Pressed on whether he believed Ms Sturgeon or other senior figures in the party were bullies, he said: ‘No I don’t.’