Alex Salmond dead: Life & times of political heavyweight who transformed Scotland & SNP
ALEX Salmond was the political heavyweight who punched way above his weight and nearly knocked Scotland out of the UK.
But his lifelong quest to see his nation become independent only dawned on him while working as an economist for the Royal Bank of Scotland.
He recalled: “I’d always been told that Scotland couldn’t afford to go it alone.
“But their sums didn’t add up – I could see the figures right in front of me.”
That set the course for his entire adult life after being born in Linlithgow, West Lothian, on Hogmanay in 1954 as Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond and educated at Broomfield Primary School and then Linlithgow Academy.
The first seeds of independence were sown by Salmond’s grandfather Sandy, who he called “the most important person” in his life, after he filled the future leader’s head with Scotland’s rich history.
He said: “He was the town plumber in Linlithgow. And my grandfather was a local historian.
“He took me around Linlithgow and showed me where all the great things had happened. I got Braveheart from my grandfather’s knee.”
By Chris Musson Associate Editor Politics
ALEX Salmond was still going at 110mph, right until the very end.
I last saw him a month ago when he came into the Scottish Sun offices for an interview to mark a decade since the independence referendum.
He was utterly bullish, as ever. Determined, incisive, funny, pugnacious.
He was as sharp as a tack. A man still following every last twist and turn of politics, in Scotland and beyond.
When I started my weekly column for the Scottish Sun earlier this year, I told readers I wanted to hear from them.
Salmond was the first person to email me after my debut piece, which had been about the past decade of “madness”, as I put it, and how it had been unhealthy for Scotland “I don’t fully agree with your analysis,” Salmond told me. I’ll take that, I thought.
But that interview we did just over a month ago was a walk in the park for Salmond.
Nothing got past him, and he was prepared for every question I put to him. He even had a plug ready for his 2026 Holyrood election strategy.
The interview was on camera and as a final question, I asked if he’d retire if failed to win a seat in two years’ time.
His response was first-class – not quite giving a straight answer, but colourful enough to draw a line under the issue.
“Oh, I intend to lead Alba into the Scottish Parliament in 2026. That’s my full intention,” he said. “And if that doesn’t work, then I’ll probably go back to grabbing the family season ticket at Tynecastle, and hope by then we’re in a vein of form.”
After he ended, he delivered a signature chortle, then held a smile for the camera until we cut
We exchanged gossip afterwards and as I walked him to reception he quipped. “I hope you got some of what you wanted, there.” Clocking the security guard had recognised him, he made a beeline for the guy, shook his hand and said a quick hello.
After Salmond gone, I said to the security guard: “You a fan?”
“Nah – not my politics,” he said, but added: “He seems a nice chap, though.”
And that was Salmond through and through. He liked to be liked, and – in his heyday, especially – he was great at it.
I remember thinking as he left: What a pro.
I also remember thinking that he did not look well. He was struggling with his walking, and had put on a lot of weight in recent years.
But he just kept going. He still had much to prove, after a decade of enormous upheaval for him.
Salmond thrived on popularity. He was a political animal – but wounded, damaged beyond repair, I think, by the infamous allegations against him and his own, self-confessed shortcomings.
People would often ask: Why doesn’t he just retire? But, that just wasn’t him. He would have to be made to stop.
Salmond still felt he had scores to settle – with the Scottish Government, with his foes in the SNP.
He so desperately wanted to get out from under that cloud that’s hung over him in recent years. To regain that popularity he once had.
That won’t happen now, of course. The fight is over for Salmond. But say what you want about him – he never gave up.
His West Lothian childhood, where he was raised with older sister Margaret and his two younger siblings Gail and Bob, also included a spell singing in choirs as a boy soprano.
And he insisted the slagging he took from school mates stood him in good stead for his later years leading the country.
He once joked: “If you can sing in front of thousands of people when you’re ten, then being Scottish First Minister is nothing in comparison.”
Alex studied at Edinburgh College of Commerce for a year from 1972, before going on to St Andrews University, where he graduated with a degree in economics and history.
It was there he decided to join the SNP after an argument with an English girlfriend, which ended with her ultimatum: “If you feel like that, go and join the SNP!”
His head was well and truly turned when student Salmond met Winnie Ewing when the Nationalist icon visited campus.
By then he had joined the RBS where he worked for seven years as oil economist.
However at the same time, his political reputation was growing as a leading light in the Nats’ socialist 79 Group — a period of activism which saw the future firebrand briefly suspended in 1982 after the renegades were expelled from the main party.
In 1987 he was elected to Westminster for the first time as MP for Banff and Buchan.
He was 32 and he made it clear he had no intention of just warming the back benches when the following year, he was ejected from the House of Commons for interrupting Tory Chancellor Nigel Lawson’s Budget speech.
In 1990 he fought a fierce battle with Margaret Ewing, daughter-in-law of Winnie, to become SNP leader.
In a stunning publicity coup, Eck proved he had a licence to thrill when he enlisted the services of 007 mate of Sir Sean Connery to star in his party political broadcast.
When Tony Blair was elected in 1997 the Prime Minister delivered on his promise to hold a devolution referendum which Labour hoped would bury the Nat’s independence dreams.
Their plans seemed to be sticking to the script when the SNP won just 35 seats to Labour’s 56 in the first Scottish parliament elections in 1999 which saw Salmond step down as leader.
But when his predecessor John Swinney resigned as SNP leader in 2004, Salmond initially ruled out a return to the top – before suddenly changing his mind.
He stood on a ticket with Nicola Sturgeon as his running mate, winning 75 per cent of the party’s votes.
Salmond returned to Holyrood as MSP for Gordon in the 2007 Scottish elections where he became First Minister of a minority government after the SNP won a single seat more than Jack McConnell’s Labour.
1954: Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond is born on December 31, 1954, in Linlithgow.
1973: Joins the SNP as a teenager. He attends the University of St Andrews where he studies economics and medieval history.
1978: Joins the civil service as an assistant economist at the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland – part of the now defunct Scottish Office.
1980: Moves to work at the Royal Bank of Scotland as an economist.
1982: Expelled from the SNP after being a key part of the 79 Group – a faction within the SNP pushing for the party to take a more active left-wing stance. His expulsion lasts just one month.
1987: Elected as MP for the Banff and Buchan as one of three SNP MPs returned to Westminster. Months later becomes SNP deputy leader.
1990: Succeeds Gordon Wilson as SNP leader.
1997: Under his leadership, the SNP increases its MPs from four to six at the general election. He backs the campaign for a devolved Scottish Parliament.
1999: Becomes MSP for Banff and Buchan.
2000: Makes shock announcement that he is standing down as SNP leader. He is succeeded by John Swinney.
2001: Resigns his seat in the Scottish Parliament to focus on leading the SNP at Westminster.
2004: Takes over for his second stint as SNP leader after John Swinney stands down. He goes on to hold the job for the next decade.
2007: Elected as First Minister of Scotland after leading the SNP to victory at the Scottish Parliament election in 2007.
2012: Secures agreement with Prime Minister David Cameron for a Scottish independence referendum, to be held in 2014.
2014: Spearheads the independence campaign, raising support to 45 per cent – falling short of his goal to split from the UK. Following the referendum, he resigns as First Minister.
2015: Returns to Westminster as MP for Gordon. He holds the job for two years before losing his seat at the snap election called by Theresa May.
2018: Quits the SNP after allegations of sexual misconduct are made against him. He has a major falling out with Nicola Sturgeon in the aftermath, including how a probe into him is handled by the Scottish Government.
2020: At the High Court in Edinburgh, he is found not guilty on 12 sexual assault charges against him, while another is found not proven.
2021: Founds new independence party Alba. Kenny MacAskill and Neale Hanvey defect to Alba, giving the party their first elected parliamentarians.
2023: Ash Regan defects to Alba, giving the party its first MSP at Holyrood
During his seven years as First Minister he met the late Queen on countless occasions and once even kept Her Maj waiting.
But the smooth operator soon managed to talk himself out of trouble, as usual.
He recalls: “I was due to meet Her Majesty at Balmoral, but due to bad flooding I realised I was going to be late.
“So I stopped on the way to pick up some raspberries from near Glamis Castle — home of the Queen Mother of course.
“The Queen was absolutely delighted and served them over dinner.
“So if you ever find yourself late for Her Majesty, make sure you bring her six punnets of raspberries.”
Undoubtedly the crowning glory of his incredible career was the unprecedented majority the Nats won in the 2011 Scottish elections — a feat that was supposed to be impossible to achieve thanks to the voting structure.
But crucially that gave Salmond a mandate for the 2014 independence referendum that saw him come so close of fulfilling his lifelong vision – but with no cigar.
On the night of the historic vote he gave a rare insight into his then 33-year marriage, when he told The Scottish Sun: “It’s Moira I’ve been concerned for. She always said she married an economist, not a politician.”
The day after he shocked the nation and his party by stepping down as First Minister.
But he had clearly lost none of his strut as he famously burst through the doors at Westminster after winning the Gordon constituency during the SNP’s 2015 landslide when they won 56 out of a possible 59 seats.
It was then the wheels started to come off his juggernaut career, first in 2017 when he lost his seat to Tory Colin Clark, bringing his three decades at the forefront of British politics to a shuddering halt.
While in 2018 he resigned from the SNP to fight allegations of rape and sexual assault that saw him charged with 14 offences, including attempted rape in 2019.
But before he came to trial Salmond was given £500,000 compensation by the Scottish Government when he won a judicial review, ruling their investigation was unlawful, unfair and “tainted by apparent bias”.
Salmond was later acquitted of all charges after trial in March 2020 but his reputation was tarnished after admitting he had apologised to a civil servant for a boozy incident which ended with “sleepy cuddles” – his words – on his bed at Bute House in 2013.
He later admitted: “It matters a great deal that you’re found innocent. But if you’re in a mud-wrestling contest, it doesn’t matter if you emerge innocent — you still end up with mud.”
Salmond went on to lead the new pro-independence Alba Party but they failed to gain any seats in the 2021 Scottish elections.
Last year he lodged a Court of Session petition alleging misfeasance – the wrongful exercise of lawful authority – by civil servants, seeking £3million in damages.
But despite all the battles scars when asked what his biggest regret was, he simply stated: “That Scotland still isn’t independent.”