Alex Salmond

Alex Salmond (politician)
Scottish First Minister, Alex Salmond, and Deputy FM, Nicola Sturgeon, at the launch of the "National Conversation" (14 August 2007)
Born	31 December 1954
Interest of	Neil Mackay
First Minister of Scotland  In office 16 May 2007 - 20 November 2014 Preceded by Jack McConnell Succeeded by Nicola Sturgeon  Member of Parliament for Gordon In office 8 May 2015 - 3 May 2017  Member of the Scottish Parliament In office 6 May 1999 - 24 March 2016  Member of Parliament for Banff and Buchan In office 12 June 1987 - 12 April 2010

Alexander Elliot Anderson "Alex" Salmond is the former Scottish National Party MP and MSP who served as First Minister of Scotland between 2007-2014.

As First Minister, from 2007 to 2011, Alex Salmond headed a minority Scottish Government, but after the 2011 Scottish Parliament election the SNP emerged with an overall majority. Politically, Salmond is one of the foremost proponents of Scottish independence, repeatedly calling for a referendum on the issue. After a two-year keenly fought campaign, the Scottish independence referendum finally took place on 18 September 2014. The referendum question, which voters answered with "Yes" or "No", was "Should Scotland be an independent country?" The "No" side won, with 2,001,926 (55.3%) voting against independence.

On 19 September 2014, Alex Salmond announced his intention to stand down as First Minister and SNP leader when the Party’s Annual Conference took place in November 2014. His deputy Nicola Sturgeon was elected to succeed Salmond as First Minister on 19 November 2014 and was officially sworn into the post the following day.

Sexual misconduct allegations

In August 2018, Alex Salmond resigned from the SNP in the face of allegations of sexual misconduct in 2013 while he was First Minister. In a statement he said that he wanted to avoid internal division within the party and intended to apply to rejoin the SNP once he had an opportunity to clear his name.

On 30 August 2018, Salmond launched a crowdfunding appeal to pay for the legal costs of seeking a judicial review into the fairness of the process by which the Scottish Government had handled the allegations. He closed the appeal two days later, on 1 September, after raising £100,000, double the amount he wanted to pay for his legal costs. The government later conceded that its procedures had been flawed and paid more than £500,000 in Salmond's legal expenses. On 8 January 2019, he won his inquiry case against Scottish government, noting, "while I am glad about the victory which has been achieved today, I am sad that it was necessary to take this action." The Scottish government admitted it breached its own guidelines by appointing an investigating officer who had "prior involvement" in the case. Salmond also asked permanent secretary to the Scottish Government, Leslie Evans, to consider her position. Evans stated that the complaints the government had received in January 2018 had not been withdrawn, so the option of re-investigating them remained on the table, once the police probe into the allegations had run its course.

On 24 January 2019, Police Scotland arrested Alex Salmond, and he was charged with 14 offences, including two counts of attempted rape, nine of sexual assault, two of indecent assault, and one of breach of the peace. In a statement outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court, he denied any criminality. Alex Salmond appeared in court on 21 November and entered a plea of "not guilty".

Trial

Alex Salmond's trial started on 9 March 2020 at the High Court in Edinburgh in front of Judge Lady Dorrian, Scotland’s second most senior judge. Salmond's defence is led by Gordon Jackson QC and the prosecution by Alex Prentice QC.

Craig Murray reports

Craig Murray ("Your Man in the Public Gallery") provided a forensic report on each day of the trial proceedings:

• Reporting the Alex Salmond Trial
• In a Strange Limbo
• The Alex Salmond Trial: Your Man Excluded From the Gallery
• Your Man Kept Oot the Gallery: The Alex Salmond Trial Day 3
• The Boy I Love is (Not) in the Gallery – The Alex Salmond Trial Day 4
• 13 Events, No Witnesses: The Prosecution Concludes the Case Against Alex Salmond
• Your Man Finally in the Public Gallery. The Alex Salmond Trial Day 7
• Your Man Finally in the Public Gallery. The Alex Salmond Trial Day 8

Craig Murray summarises:

After Day 8, there is a change in the balance of evidence. Previously a popular meme has been that either Alex Salmond must be lying, or 9 separate women must be lying. After today’s evidence we can say that either several of those women must be lying, or a variety of other direct witnesses, female and male, must be lying. There is of course an element of false dichotomy even in this statement of the case, as in a number of instances there is a fair degree of commonality from both prosecution and defence as to actions, but differences as to interpretation or to intent. I can also say without any fear of contradiction that many of the allegations would not meet the definition of a sexual assault as commonly understood by the person in the street. That is not to say they cannot meet a legal definition. There I will bow to the judge – who I continue to find very fair.

On 19 March 2020, Craig Murray reported:

"I have been barred from the court today, on a motion of the prosecution, for 'possible contempt of court'. I asked the friendly police who removed me why, and they did not know. I have not been charged and know of no reason why you cannot still read my report of yesterday's proceedings. I have slightly altered one sentence which on reflection may have been over-specific."

Grousebeater

The blogger Grousebeater provided an account of Day 9 (19 March 2020) and Day 10 (20 March) of the trial:

a. Alex Salmond in court with his wife on what may well be final day of defence case. Next witness is DCS Lesley Boal, who led police investigation into Alex Salmond; she confirms she did not accept a copy of the conclusions of the govt’s internal investigation in case her inquiry was “unconsciously tainted” by it. She says her team took 386 statements.

b. Next witness is Alex Bell, who worked for Alex Salmond. Asked about the Jack Vettriano Christmas card incident with Woman B, he says he doesn’t recall seeing anything that concerned him; “there may have been some joking” around the card, but he doesn’t remember Woman B being unhappy about it.

c. In cross examination, Alex Prentice asks if Alex Bell went upstairs to join Woman B and Alex Salmond because he was concerned about her being alone with him; he says he returned to the room “to ensure the welfare” of Woman B.

d. Next witness is Alex Salmond’s former driver, Roger Cherry. He says he can’t remember who sat where on the night Woman C says Alex Salmond touched her leg, but he confirms that the back seat armrest could not be retracted and the atmosphere was “very jovial and happy”.

e. After agreement of a joint minute of various defence productions, that’s the end of the defence case. Speeches next, although Judge Lady Dorrian wants to discuss matters with the two legal teams first. Expecting Alex Prentice to sum up this afternoon for the Crown, but if he takes too long, then Gordon Jackson tomorrow morning. That could mean the jury charged by Lady Dorrian to begin deliberations immediately thereafter.

Lunch adjournment

f. Crown’s summation: Alex Prentice QC says he wants the jury to convict Alex Salmond of all that’s on the indictment. He says they are the masters of the facts; they decide what evidence they accept, what they reject, and what conclusions to draw. “I suggest that Alex Salmond’s conduct was intimidating, humiliating, degrading and created an offensive environment”. He adds, “This is a powerful man who used his power to satisfy his sexual desires with impunity.” He says jury are entitled to dismiss the evidence of the nine complainers as being fabricated or exaggerated, but equally they can regard them as “truthful and honest witnesses”. He says that if you do, then “you see a pattern emerges”. He says much has been made of Alex Salmond being a “tactile person” – he tells the jury that he’s not sure what this means, but it’s “not a licence to grope women”. He says there’s a “course of conduct of seeking sexual gratification”. He runs through the charges one by one urging jury to look at the context around the circumstances; of young women alone late at night at Bute House. He asks if claims of each complainant chime with the others, suggesting there is an “emerging pattern”. Adds, there is an “ongoing course of conduct” through the indictment, “a common theme of a sexual predator with escalating gravity”. He says there is a further common theme running through this case, that “these ladies effectively had nobody to turn to”. They felt they could not speak out to expose what was going on.

g. He concludes his speech by telling the jury: “they felt they had nobody to turn to for an effective remedy – well they do now. I invite you to convict Alex Salmond of the charges against him.”

DAY 10 – Friday 20 March 2020

a. Bright spring sunshine over Edinburgh. A big day for Alex Salmond and indeed his accusers. A reminder to readers Gordon Jackson QC is defending him, this his moment to state the case for the defence. (The judge, Lady Dorrian will then address the jury and charge them to find a verdict.)

b. Defence summation. Gordon Jackson QC opines that the prosecution is right. He paraphrases the prosecution’s remarks: “that there’s a pattern here” – but adds “not the one they want the jury to draw”. It’s of things that had nothing thought of them at the time, that were not a big deal at the time, later rethought, re-imagined, now criminal charges in the High Court. He says the jury must be convinced beyond reasonable doubt – [my italics] and that is a very high standard of proof. ”There is only guilt in these matters not because someone could have been a better man, but because of that standard of proof.” He warns against making moral judgements and asks the jury to concentrate on proof. On the attempted rape charge, Gordon Jackson says the defence have shown Woman H was not at the dinner that night. He repeats the prosecution’s phrase “The pattern does not fit”. He says there’s something in the “murky” world of politics in that phrase, a catch all phrase: “I can’t prove it, but I can smell it, there’s something not right”. He says the charge of sexual assault with intent to rape is “a hell of an allegation”. There may have been inappropriate behaviour, but when they are both fully clothed and they sit up and say goodnight afterward, how does this become intent to rape? He adds “Don’t ask me.” He enumerates the other charges – he says none are “trivial”, but “these were incidents nobody thought twice about” at the time. He finds problems in “Every one I look at”. He continues on the same theme, “this stinks, this absolutely stinks”. He says Woman A was “fiercely involved” in talking to other complainers and then touches upon the issue of conspiracy by repeating the prosecution’s line. “There’s something that doesn’t smell right about the whole thing.” He pauses and then says “this all comes out of the political bubble with no real independent support of any kind”.

c. He concludes his summing up speech telling the jury that he doesn’t care if they like Alex Salmond or not – he’s not above the law, but he’s not below it either. “This has gone far enough!”

d. Judge Lady Dorrian thanks the Defence counsel and turns to the jury to give her instructions – explaining points of law, where not to draw conclusions, how not to be subjective, how to be a responsible person on a matter involving reputations and livelihoods. She tells them that “it’s your judgement that matters, it’s for you alone to decide what is or isn’t important”.

e. We now await the decision of the jury. I am never sure if a swift verdict is a good or a bad thing, but I take a long deliberation to mean a split jury.

Day 11 – Acquitted

Grousebeater continues:

Day 11 – Monday 23 March 2020

a. The Jury was sent home at the weekend; they and Alex Salmond return to court today, the likelihood a verdict will be reached in hours. Please check in for updates from 10am.

b. The jury have gone out again in the Alex Salmond trial – but there are only 13 now. Lady Dorrian tells the remaining jurors that two have been discharged for “various reasons”. No explanation given, but it could easily be for pressing domestic reasons, or they feel unable to bring themselves to judge. In Scottish Law a jury can continue deliberations with reduced numbers so long as there is at least 12 remaining. A majority verdict, however, must have no fewer than eight in agreement for a conviction on any charge.

c. The jury chairperson stands and reads out their verdicts as follows:

Trial Charge 7 (sexual assault of Woman F) Not Proven by majority

Charge 8 (sexual assault of Woman F with intent to rape) Not Guilty by majority

Charge 9 (sexual assault of Woman G) Not Guilty by majority

Charge 10 (sexual assault of Woman G) Not Guilty by majority

Charge 11 (sexual assault of Woman H) Not Guilty by majority

Charge 13 (sexual assault of Woman J) Not Guilty by majority

Charge 14 (sexual assault of Woman K) Not Guilty by majority

d. Not Guilty on all but one count, and Not Proven on that. (Not enough evidence.)

e. The Judge, Lady Dorrian asks Alex Salmond to stand and told – he is a free man, and discharges him from the court. The jury is thanked. The trial is over.

Craig Murray tweeted:

"Alex Salmond acquitted of all charges, as any kind of sensible appraisal of the evidence would dictate. Should never have been brought.

"For all those involved in the conspiracy to fit him up, you are not going to get away with it."

Early life and career

Salmond was born in his parents' home at 101 Preston Road, Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland on 31 December, 1954. He is the second of four children born to Robert Fyfe Findlay Salmond and Mary Stewart Salmond (née Milne), both of whom were Civil Servants. Robert Salmond had originally worked as an electrician, and his family had been resident in Linlithgow since the mid 18^th century. Alex Salmond's middle names come from his family's tradition of naming their children after the local Church of Scotland minister, in this case the Reverend Gilbert Elliot Anderson of St Ninian's Craigmailen Parish Church in Linlinthgow.

Salmond attended the local Linlithgow Academy 1966-1972. He studied at Edinburgh College of Commerce 1972-1973, gaining an HNC in Business Studies, and was then accepted by the University of St Andrews, where he studied Economics and Medieval History. During his time at St Andrews, Salmond lived in St Salvator's Hall. He was elected as Vice-President (Education) of the Students' Representative Council in 1977 and was also nominated to join St Andrews Community Council that year. Salmond graduated with a 2:2 Joint Honours MA in Economics and Medieval History in May 1978.

In 1978 he entered the Government Economic Service as an Assistant Economist in the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland, part of the now defunct Scottish Office. Two years later he joined the staff of the Royal Bank of Scotland where he worked for seven years, initially as an assistant economist. In 1982 he was appointed Oil Economist, and from 1984 he worked as a bank economist as well as continuing to hold the position of Oil Economist. While with the Royal Bank, he wrote and broadcast extensively for both domestic and international outlets. He also contributed regularly to oil and energy conferences. In 1983 Salmond created a "Royal Bank/BBC oil index" that is still used.

Personal life

Salmond and his wife Moira have never had any children and the couple closely protect their private lives. Moira Salmond, formerly McGlashan, was a senior civil servant and became her future husband's boss when he joined the Scottish Office in the 1970s. The two were married in 1981.

Salmond's main interests outside work and politics are golf, horse racing, football and reading. He supports Scotland and Heart of Midlothian F.C. and sometimes attends matches. He also attended the 2008 UEFA Cup Final between Rangers FC and Zenit St Petersburg.

He takes an interest in Scottish cultural life, as well as watching Star Trek and listening to country and western music. For 'Children in Need' in 2008, Salmond performed an impersonation of the Rikki Fulton character, the Reverend I M Jolly.

He has also been a Visiting Professor of Economics at Strathclyde University. He and his wife Moira live in a converted mill in the village of Strichen in Aberdeenshire.

Early career in politics

Salmond became active in the SNP when he joined the Federation of Student Nationalists at the University of St Andrews in 1973. His conversion is generally credited to his then girlfriend, Debbie Horton, an English student from London, who was secretary of the St Andrews University Labour club. After an argument in December 1973, she told him: "If you feel like that, go and join the bloody SNP". The next day Salmond did. The following day he and a friend attended the sparsely-populated AGM of the university branch of the Federation of Student Nationalists. Being the only two fully paid-up members of the SNP at the university, they were duly elected president and treasurer. Although a left-winger at the time he joined, Salmond had considerable doubts as to whether or not the Labour Government would legislate for a devolved Scottish Assembly.

Salmond started his political life as a committed left-winger inside the SNP and was a leading member of the socialist republican organisation within it, the '79 Group'. He was, along with other group leaders, suspended from membership of the SNP when the '79 Group' was banned within the larger party. In 1981, he married Moira French McGlashan, then a senior civil servant with the Scottish Office.

Following the SNP's National Council narrowly voting to uphold the expulsion, Salmond and the others were allowed back into the party a month later, and in 1985 he was elected as the SNP's Vice Convener for Publicity. In 1987 he stood for Parliament in Banff and Buchan and defeated the incumbent Conservative MP, Albert McQuarrie. Later that year Salmond became Senior Vice Convener (Deputy Leader) of the SNP. He was at this time still viewed as being firmly on the left of the party and had become a key ally of Jim Sillars, who joined him in the British House of Commons when he won a by-election for the seat of Glasgow Govan in 1988. Salmond served as a member of the House of Commons Energy Select Committee from 1987 to 1992.

First time as SNP leader

When Gordon Wilson stood down as SNP leader in 1990, Salmond decided to contest the leadership. His only opponent was Margaret Ewing, whom Sillars decided to support. This caused considerable consternation amongst the SNP left as the two main left leaders were opposing each other in the contest. Salmond went on to win the leadership election by 486 votes to Ewing's 146.

His first test as leader was the general election in 1992, with the SNP having high hopes of making an electoral breakthrough. Whilst considerably increasing its share of the vote, it failed to win a large number of seats. Sillars lost his, causing him to describe the Scottish people as '90-minute patriots'. This comment ended the political friendship between Salmond and Sillars, and Sillars would soon become a vocal critic of Salmond's style of leadership.

The SNP increased its number of MPs from four to six in the 1997 general election, which saw a landslide victory for the Labour Party. After election, Labour legislated for a devolved Scottish parliament in Edinburgh. Although still committed to a fully independent Scotland, Salmond signed the SNP up to supporting the campaign for devolution, and, along with Scottish Labour leader Donald Dewar and Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Jim Wallace, played an active part in securing the victory for devolution in the Scotland referendum of 1997. However, many hard line fundamentalists in the SNP objected to committing the party to devolution, as it was short of full political Scottish independence.

Salmond's first spell as leader was characterised by a moderation of his earlier left-wing views and by his firmly placing the SNP into a gradualist, but still pro-independence, strategy. Salmond was one of the few politicians in the UK to oppose the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999. He was opposed to the conflict because it was not authorised by a United Nations Security Council resolution, which was a controversial subject at the time. Despite this, Salmond was heavily criticised in the media for describing Tony Blair's decision to intervene militarily as an "unpardonable folly".

Several years as party leader earned Salmond an unusually high profile for an SNP politician in the London-based media. In 1998, Salmond won the Spectator Award for Political strategist of the Year. Following an appearance on the entertainment programme Call My Bluff, Salmond used one of the 'bluff' cards that are used as props in the show in the run-up to the first elections to the Scottish Parliament. To counter his frustration at having to sit in silence through what he claimed was an inappropriately political speech by Tony Blair at a charity lunch, he held up the bluff card as the Prime Minister began querying Scotland's economic prospects should independence occur. Throughout his time in politics, Salmond has maintained his interest in horse racing, writing a weekly column for The Scotsman and appearing a number of times on Channel 4's The Morning Line.

Salmond was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 1999 and was one of its highest profile members. He stood down as SNP leader in 2000, facing internal criticism after a series of high profile fall-outs with party members, and was replaced by his preferred successor John Swinney, who defeated Alex Neil for the post. He left the Scottish Parliament in 2001 to lead the SNP group in the House of Commons.

During the prolonged parliamentary debates in the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq he voiced strong opposition to the UK's participation. In the aftermath of the war, he lent support to the attempt of Adam Price, a Plaid Cymru MP, to impeach Tony Blair over the Iraq issue. Salmond has gone further than many anti-war politicians in claiming that Blair's statements on the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq were consciously intended to deceive the public. He has also claimed that Blair had made a pact with George W. Bush "to go to war come what may".

Return as leader

On 15 July 2004, Alex Salmond said that he would be a candidate in the forthcoming election for the leadership of the SNP. This came as a surprise because Salmond had previously declared that he would definitely not be a leadership candidate. In the postal ballot of all members he went on to receive over 75% of the votes cast, placing him well ahead of his nearest rival Roseanna Cunningham. Although he was re-elected in the 2005 General Election, he made clear his intention to return to the Scottish Parliament at the 2007 Scottish parliamentary election in an attempt to win power for the first time.

In that election, Salmond stood as a candidate for the Gordon constituency, which had been represented since 1999 by the Liberal Democrat Nora Radcliffe. Salmond won the seat with 41% of the vote, and a majority of 2,062, returning to the Scottish Parliament after six years' absence. In the election the SNP emerged as the largest party, winning 47 seats to Labour's 46.

First Minister of Scotland

Having won more seats than any other party in the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, the SNP initially approached the Scottish Liberal Democrats to form a coalition, but they declined to take part in negotiations. This left the SNP without any possibility to form a coalition with an overall majority. The Scottish Green Party agreed to support an SNP minority administration on a confidence and supply basis.

Alex Salmond was elected by the Scottish Parliament as First Minister on 16 May 2007, and was sworn in on 17 May after receiving the Royal Warrant from the Queen and taking the official oath of allegiance before judges at the Court of Session. Under section 45(7) of the Scotland Act 1998 he became Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland at the same time. Salmond is the first nationalist politician to hold the office of First Minister. He reduced the size of the Cabinet from nine members to six, and said he would seek to govern on a "policy by policy" basis. In order to concentrate on his new role as First Minister, Salmond stood down as the SNP group leader at Westminster and was replaced by Angus Robertson.

The Guardian reported in November 2007 that Salmond believed Scotland would be independent within "the next decade".

In November 2007, Salmond received the The Spectator's Parliamentarian of the Year award for his "brilliant campaign" and "extraordinary victory" in the Scottish Parliament elections, thereby ending eight years of Labour rule.

UK general election debates

Alex Salmond said it would be "unacceptable" for the SNP to be excluded from the 2010 UK election televised debate and has sought "guarantees of inclusion from the broadcasters, given their inescapable duty to ensure fairness and impartiality in election-related coverage in Scotland" in the build up to the 2010 UK general election. The party used the Freedom of Information Act to see if the BBC could have broken its own rules. Salmond said it was entirely unacceptable to Scotland as well as to the SNP for the broadcasters to exclude the party that forms the Scottish Government and leading in Westminster election polls. He emphasised, however, that he was not trying to stop any debates from being broadcast. After having failed to change the BBC's decision to not include the SNP in the final British debate, in line with the decision by ITV and Sky News, the SNP mounted a legal challenge to the BBC at the Court of Session in Edinburgh. Despite earlier reassurances by the SNP that it was not trying to stop the broadcast, it sought an 'interim interdict' to prevent the debate being broadcast without the participation of the SNP. However, the Court of Session dismissed the SNP's complaint, and refused to ban the BBC from broadcasting the third debate in Scotland, on the grounds that the SNP had left the bringing of the case "far too late", had not contested the broadcasting of the first two debates by ITV and Sky Television, and that the third debate would in any case be broadcast by Sky on satellite across Britain, which a Scottish court had no power to block. The judge, Lady Smith, further ordered the SNP to pay the BBC's legal expenses. The SNP's political opponents described the SNP's contesting of the case as a "stunt".

There were Scottish debates dealing with specifically devolved issues which Salmond had accepted the invitation to attend along the other parties within the Scottish Parliament on Sky TV. Salmond declined to attend those held on the BBC and ITV, and Angus Robertson agreed to take his place in these debates.

Renewable energy

Alex Salmond in his 2010 New Year message highlighted the importance of sustainable development and renewable energy in Scotland and the required increase in powers of the Scottish Parliament needed to help harness Scotland's green energy potential and therefore take full advantage of the "renewable revolution".

Earlier in December 2009, he campaigned for climate change legislation at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen to promote Scotland's role in tackling and mitigating climate change. This included signing a Partnership Agreement with the Maldives, one of the most exposed countries to the consequences of rising sea levels.

Although energy is mostly a matter reserved to Westminster, administrative devolution of Sections 36 & 37 of the Electricity Act (1989) coupled with fully devolved planning powers enabled the Scottish Government to establish Scotland as a leader in renewable energy developments.

2011 Scottish election

In the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, the Scottish National Party won by a landslide and emerged with an overall majority. As a result of this Salmond now has the ability to call a referendum on Scottish independence. On 9 January 2011 he announced that the Scottish independence referendum would be held in Autumn 2014. The Scottish National Party (SNP) became the minority government of the devolved Scottish Parliament after winning a plurality of seats in the 2007 Scottish election. A white paper for the bill, setting out four possible options ranging from no change to full independence, was published by the Scottish Government on 30 November 2009. A draft bill for public consultation was published on 25 February 2010, setting out a two question yes/no referendum, proposing both further devolution or full independence. The SNP failed to obtain support from other parties and withdrew the draft bill.

The SNP again pledged to hold an independence referendum and won an overall majority in the 2011 Scottish election. On 10 January 2012, the Scottish Government announced that they intended to hold the referendum in the autumn of 2014. An agreement was signed on 15 October 2012 by David Cameron and Salmond which provided a legal framework for the referendum to be held. The principal issues in the referendum were economic policy, defence arrangements, continued relations with the UK and membership of supranational organisations, particularly the European Union.

On 7 November 2012, Alex Salmond became the longest serving First Minister of Scotland serving 2002 days, 1 day more than his predecessor Jack McConnell.

2015 and 2017 General Elections

Alex Salmond defeated Lib-Dem candidate Christine Jardine at 2015 General Election

On 7 May 2015, Alex Salmond was elected as MP for the Gordon parliamentary constituency in Aberdeenshire when the SNP recorded an historic landslide General Election victory in Scotland, winning 56 out of 59 seats. Labour was left with just one MP north of the border, but its Scottish leader Jim Murphy, who lost his seat, said he would continue in his post. The Liberal Democrats lost 10 seats with only Alistair Carmichael holding on in Orkney and Shetland. The Conservatives held Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale - the other seat to withstand the SNP tsunami.

Alex Salmond, speaking after defeating the LibDem Christine Jardine in Gordon, said:

"There is a swing under way in Scotland the like of which has not been seen in recorded politics. It is an extraordinary statement of intent from the people of Scotland. The Scottish lion has roared this morning across the country."

In the UK/2017 General Election, Salmond suffered his first defeat as a candidate in any parliamentary election since entering Westminster in 1987, becoming the most high-profile SNP loss of the night. He lost his seat as member for Gordon to Colin Clark of the Scottish Conservatives, receiving 19,254 votes to the Conservatives 21,861. This represented a swing of 20.4% away from Salmond, larger than the 14.4% swing to him from the Liberal Democrats which saw him win the seat in the 2015 General Election.

This was the first time since the 1987 General Election that Alex Salmond was not in an elected position in the British or Scottish parliaments.

Lockerbie bombing

Abdelbaset al-Megrahi wrongly convicted, Bernt Carlsson callously targeted

Secret SNP talks

Alex Salmond meeting Hillary Clinton in Washington for secret Lockerbie talks

When First Minister Alex Salmond met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington DC on 23 February 2009, did they discuss the Lockerbie bombing and the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi from prison in Scotland? According to the Mail on Sunday of 22 February 2009:

1. SNP government officials have been involved in secret talks between the UK Foreign Office and Libyan officials. These talks could lead to al-Megrahi being sent back to Libya.

2. Scotland's Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill, instructed his top official, Robert Gordon, to play a key role in the negotiations.

3. The UK and US governments are keen to see al-Megrahi apply for a Prisoner Transfer Agreement. This would mean that al-Megrahi would serve the rest of his sentence in Libya. It is the SNP's Kenny MacAskill who would be responsible for organising a prisoner transfer of al-Megrahi. A Prisoner Transfer Agreement between the UK and Libya is expected to be ratified in April 2009. (The UK and US governments would like al-Megrahi to abandon his appeal against his conviction. An appeal could reveal evidence of CIA involvement in the Lockerbie bombing and could reveal that the CIA and the Scottish police faked evidence in the Lockerbie trial.)

4. Al Megrahi's appeal against his conviction is due to start in April 2009. Al Megrahi wants the appeal to go ahead so that he can clear his name.

5. "Sources close to the Libyan delegation... said Mr Gordon had given them every encouragement to push for a transfer. "One said: 'He told them in fairly plain language that if an application came it would be granted.'"

6. According to the Mail on Sunday: "The planned appeal has the potential to humiliate the Crown Office and to expose conspiracy and dirty tricks involving UK and US intelligence agents and the Scottish police."

Questions to Salmond

In December 2010, these three Lockerbie questions were put to Messrs Salmond and MacAskill:

1. Will you open an independent inquiry into the 2001 Camp van Zeist conviction of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in December 1988 as called for by the petitioner and for the reasons given in petition PE1370?
2. If not, will you provide a detailed explanation why not, specifying whether there is any legislation which would prevent you from holding such an inquiry, what this legislation is and how it prevents?
3. Who would have the power to undertake an inquiry in the terms proposed in the petition?

The petitioners still await answers!

Doubts about Megrahi's conviction

In November 2017, Alex Salmond cast doubt on the conviction of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi for the Lockerbie bombing, suggesting it was based on evidence that was “open to question” and saying it was possible “for someone to be guilty, yet wrongly convicted”.

The Winter 2019 edition of Lobster Magazine reported:

In his blog Craig Murray described an extraordinary official witch-hunt against Alex Salmond over the last couple of years which climaxed in victory for Salmond and an enormous payment to cover his legal expenses. I noted in Lobster 77:

"Of course, the post hoc ergo propter hoc (after this, therefore because of this) fallacy has to be borne in mind, nonetheless it is a very striking coincidence that the allegations of sexual assault made against former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond have surfaced three months after Mr Salmond publicly cast doubt on the official verdict on the Lockerbie bombing."

The official line on Libya is not the only one from which Salmond has strayed. He has become a loose cannon in British politics – albeit, like that other loose cannon, George Galloway, largely confined to RT.

Sporting interests

Salmond is renowned for his interest in horse racing and for his support of Heart of Midlothian F.C. He was made a patron of Aberdeen University Shinty Club in 2011 after attending their 150th anniversary celebrations at the Sutherland Cup final. This was Salmond's first ever shinty game.

Further reading

Biographies

• David Torrance, Salmond: Against The Odds, Birlinn, 2010

Other

• Rosemary Goring, "Scotland, the autobiography: 2,000 years of Scottish history by those who saw it happen", Viking, 2007, pages 432–4, ISBN 978-0-670-91657-3
• Peter Lynch, "SNP: the history of the Scottish National Party", Welsh Academic Press, 2002, ISBN 978-1-86057-003-2

External links

• Rt Hon Alex Salmond MSP (alexsalmond.org)
• Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) (Scottish.parliament.uk)
• First Minister (Scotland.gov.uk)
• Official biography (www.snp.org)
• Guardian profile, Electoral history and profile (guardian.co.uk)
• TheyWorkForYou.com
• Voting Record — Alex Salmond MP, Banff & Buchan (10525) (The Public Whip)

 

An appointment by Alex Salmond

Appointee	Job	Appointed	End
Humza Yousaf	Scotland/Cabinet Secretary for Europe and International Development	6 September 2012	18 May 2016

 

Related Documents

Title	Type	Publication date	Author(s)	Description
Document:Beyond Words	blog post	8 April 2020	Craig Murray	Nobody cultivates her own anonymity more than Magistrate Vanessa Baraitser who has her existence carefully removed from the Internet almost entirely. Yet she seeks to destroy the peace and young lives of Julian Assange’s family.
Document:Bloggers Under Siege - Craig Murray Charged with Contempt of Court	blog post	27 April 2020	Ludwig De Braeckeleer	From Lockerbie to the Russia Hoax, Craig Murray has of course upset people in high-places, including some who work for Intelligence Agencies.
Document:Defend Freedom of Expression – Support Mark Hirst	Article	15 May 2020	Tommy Sheridan	If we don’t speak up now in defence of those guilty of no crime other than expressing their opinions and speaking truth to power then we will all one day be caught in the tangled web of thought control and authoritarian rule which will render us powerless to oppose injustice and resist draconian restrictions on our freedoms.
Document:Dissident British ex-diplomat Craig Murray indicted for blog posts in Kafkaesque case	Article	27 April 2020	Ben Norton	“The state believes it has finally discovered a way to put me in prison without the inconvenient hurdle of a jury of my peers. This really is the epitome of bad law. To use it against freedom of speech is disgusting.”
Document:Ex-Scottish Government Ministers: Political Consequences of Public Statements	Letter	16 March 2018	Robert Forrester	Professor Robert Black said that Kenny MacAskill’s contention in his new book that Abdelbaset al-Megrahi had not bought the clothes wrapped around the explosive device that destroyed Pan Am Flight 103 amounted to “the end of the conviction”.
Document:I Stand in Blackburn	blog post	16 April 2024	Craig Murray	I am going to need help – leafleting, canvassing, manning offices and the many myriad tasks of an election campaign. I am buoyed by the solid start we have in support across all communities in Blackburn. We are going to give Starmer a roasting, we are going to take on the zionist monopoly of power, and it is going to be great fun!
Document:Justice for Megrahi - Scotland must fund Supreme Court appeal	Letter	27 April 2021	Patrick Haseldine	#Scotland not #Libya must fund #JusticeForMegrahi appeal to #UKSupremeCourt. Should be a major issue in the #ScottishElections2021. #AlbaParty agree: do the other parties? @Anwar_and_Co @Ali2082009 @PrivateEyeNews @Dabaibahamid
Document:Kenny MacAskill: Scotland, but not as I know it	blog post	15 September 2021	Kenny MacAskill	Craig Murray’s imprisonment is wrong and his prosecution undermines the liberties we claim to cherish. It’s Scotland but not as I know it or as it should be. As a former Justice Secretary, I find this shameful, and that it should happen under the watch of those who claim to cherish our Nations’ liberty is disgraceful.
Document:Lady Dorrian's Law	blog post	30 July 2021	Stuart Campbell	The ruinous determination of the Scottish Government and the Scottish judicial system to put someone, anyone connected to Alex Salmond in jail out of the First Minister’s demented paranoia and sheer malice has had many disastrous outcomes, for individuals, taxpayers and the country as a whole.
Document:Murray Scottish Appeal Denied; Allowed to Try UK Court	Article	8 June 2021	Joe Lauria	Craig Murray may have been a Crown target for the contempt conviction because he was among few writers defending Alex Salmond and was vindicated by Salmond’s acquittal. Murray has been a fierce advocate for his friend Julian Assange, the imprisoned WikiLeaks publisher, whom the United States is trying to extradite from Britain.
Document:Nicola Sturgeon – Used and Discarded	blog post	15 February 2023	Craig Murray	"Numerous sources have reported in the last few days that Police Scotland have now been given the go ahead by the Crown Office to pursue a criminal case over the £600,000 missing money. That seems the most likely explanation for the timing of Nicola Sturgeon's resignation today."
Document:Scottish High Court Denies Whistleblower Craig Murray's Request To Appeal Conviction Over Blog Posts	Article	9 June 2021	Mohamed Elmaazi	Craig Murray's fate turns on whether the judges in London, where the Supreme Court is based, consider the application on an expedited basis.
Document:The Crown came for Craig Murray	blog post	29 July 2021	Gordon Dangerfield	“I go to jail with a clean conscience after a Kafkaesque trial. I believe this is actually the state’s long sought revenge for my whistleblowing on security service collusion with torture and my long term collaboration with Wikileaks and other whistleblowers."
Document:Whistleblower Craig Murray Sentenced To 8 Months In Prison Over His Reporting On Former Scottish First Minister’s Trial	Article	11 May 2021	Mohamed Elmaazi	Craig Murray tweets: "I cannot commend this article highly enough to anybody who wants to understand why and how I have been sentenced to prison."

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