Who was Alex Salmond and why was he such an important figure in politics?

The political world was shocked on Saturday by the death of former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond after giving a speech in North Macedonia.

Salmond, 69, gave a speech at the Institute of Cultural Diplomacy Forum and reportedly collapsed during lunch in a packed room.

The pro-Scottish independence Alba party, which he led, said it understood he had suffered a heart attack, although a post-mortem examination would be needed to confirm the cause of death.

Figures from across the UK’s political spectrum paid tribute to the former SNP leader – a loved and hated figure who brought Scotland to the brink of becoming an independent country.

Although their relationship has been quite strained in recent years, his successor as SNP leader, Nicola Sturgeon, has described him as her “mentor” and an “incredibly significant figure” in her life, with whom she formed “one of the most greatest success in UK Politics”.

First Minister Sir Keir Starmer said Salmond “leaves a lasting legacy”, acknowledging how he “cared deeply about Scotland’s heritage, history and culture” as first minister.

Current First Minister John Swinney said Salmond “worked tirelessly and fought fearlessly for the country he loved”, adding that he took the SNP “from the fringes of Scottish politics into government and led Scotland so close to becoming an independent country”.

Here, Yahoo News looks at Salmond’s long career, his major controversies and his lasting impact on British politics.

Who was Alex Salmond?

Born in Linlithgow in 1954, Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond was educated at Linlithgow Academy and St Andrew’s University, where he joined the SNP.

Graduating in economics and history, he worked as an economist for both the Government Economic Service and the Royal Bank of Scotland before being elected MP for the Banff and Buchan constituency in 1987.

His election at Westminster followed a turbulent period for the SNP, which saw its number of seats fall from 11 to two at the 1979 general election.

Salmond described his early days at Westminster as a “one-man campaign of parliamentary disruption” – best illustrated when he was expelled from the House during the 1988 budget.

As a young and impetuous newcomer, Salmond played a role in the party’s splinter faction known as “Group 79”, which sought to take a more left-wing stance and capture disaffected Labor voters.

The group was expelled from the SNP in 1982, but Salmond was allowed back into the party after just a month and became one of its main strategists in 1985, and then its leader in 1990.

Outside of politics, Salmond married his partner, Moira, in 1981. He was a keen golfer and fan of horse racing.

With the creation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, he served as leader of the opposition at Holyrood, whilst retaining his seat at Westminster. He stepped down as leader of the SNP in 2000 and left the Scottish Parliament in 2001.

Returning as leader in 2004, he guided his party to a narrow victory in the Scottish Parliament elections in 2007 and then led a minority government to become Scotland’s first SNP First Minister – a feat many considered unattainable.

The man who took Scotland to the brink of independence

Building on his success, Salmond led the SNP to an unprecedented landslide victory in the 2011 election – defying the polls by crushing his main rival, the Scottish Labor Party.

The majority victory was even more impressive considering that the voting system at Holyrood was essentially designed to prevent such an outcome.

It gave the SNP the power to fulfill its manifesto commitment to hold an independence referendum, which would be held on 18 September 2014, after permission was granted by the Westminster government led by then Prime Minister David Cameron.

Despite attempts by some Yes supporters to divert focus from him, Salmond was seen across the UK – and the rest of the world – as synonymous with the Scottish independence movement during the campaign.

Polls slowed and Yes Scotland appeared to have momentum, but an eventual 55% to 45% result to remain in the UK led to Salmond’s resignation the day after the vote.

Salmond said that having brought the cause of Scottish independence to “base camp”, it was time for someone else to try and reach the summit, adding that the “dream will never die”.

His deputy, Nicola Sturgeon, took over as leader of the SNP, becoming first minister in November, but Salmond has by no means given up on politics.

He returned to Westminster following the 2015 general election, which saw the SNP win an impressive 56 of Scotland’s 59 Westminster constituencies.

Salmond’s fractured relationship with Sturgeon

As the party’s foreign affairs spokesman, and having gained visibility across the UK thanks to the independence referendum, Salmond became one of the biggest names in Westminster following his time at Holyrood.

As the 2016 EU referendum approached, many suspected that Salmond still had Sturgeon’s ear, but he insisted that any move towards a second independence vote was hers to make.

After Britain voted to leave the European Union, Salmond expressed a preference for a second vote on Scottish independence sooner rather than later, suggesting that “No” voters would change their minds under the circumstances.

While the UK overall voted 52% to 48% in favor of Brexit, voters in Scotland rejected leaving the EU by 62% to 38%.

The following years would see a breakdown in the relationship between Salmond and Sturgeon, culminating in the launch of their rival Scottish independence party, Alba, in 2021.

This was partly due to complaints made in 2018 that he sexually harassed two female staffers during his tenure as prime minister.

Salmond complained that the process was unfair and launched a judicial review in the courts, which ruled that the Scottish Government’s investigation was “tainted with apparent bias” by the investigator’s prior contact with the complainant.

Salmond was awarded more than £500,000 in damages, and the case would eventually lead to a parliamentary inquiry – but his troubles were not over.

In January 2019, he was accused of a series of sexual crimes against nine women. He denied all accusations, claiming that some were “deliberate fabrications for political purposes”.

The jury returned not guilty verdicts on 12 counts and returned a not proven verdict on one count of sexual assault with intent to rape.

Salmond would go on to accuse senior government figures of a plot to arrest him, which Sturgeon described as “nonsense” at a hearing of a specially convened inquiry at Holyrood.

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Speaking in a BBC documentary, Salmond And Sturgeon: A Troubled Union, which was broadcast last month, Salmond said: “I don’t really hurt feelings too much… but it’s a huge regret that Nicola and I are no longer speaking. .”

Sturgeon would have her own problems, announcing her resignation as party leader and first minister in February last year.

She was arrested, questioned by police and released without charge just a few months later in connection with an investigation into the SNP’s funding and finances. The investigation remains ongoing and Sturgeon, who denies any wrongdoing, is still a suspect. Her husband, former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, was accused of embezzlement.

As recently as September this year, Salmond told the ITV Border documentary A Decade of Debate that if he had known how the next 10 years would unfold, he would not have handed the reins to Sturgeon.

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