Alex Salmond

The Right Honourable Alex Salmond
Official portrait, 2007
First Minister of Scotland
In office 17 May 2007 – 18 November 2014
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Deputy	Nicola Sturgeon
Preceded by	Jack McConnell
Succeeded by	Nicola Sturgeon
Leader of the Alba Party
In office 26 March 2021 – 12 October 2024
Deputy	Kenny MacAskill
UK Parliament Leader	Neale Hanvey
Preceded by	Laurie Flynn
Succeeded by	Kenny MacAskill (acting)
Leader of the Scottish National Party
In office 3 September 2004 – 14 November 2014
Deputy	Nicola Sturgeon
Preceded by	John Swinney
Succeeded by	Nicola Sturgeon
In office 22 September 1990 – 26 September 2000
Deputy	Alasdair Morgan Jim Sillars Allan Macartney John Swinney
Preceded by	Gordon Wilson
Succeeded by	John Swinney
Deputy Leader of the Scottish National Party
In office 26 September 1987 – 22 September 1990
Leader	Gordon Wilson
Preceded by	Margaret Ewing
Succeeded by	Alasdair Morgan
Parliamentary offices Member of Parliament for Gordon In office 8 May 2015 – 3 May 2017 Preceded by Malcolm Bruce Succeeded by Colin Clark Member of the Scottish Parliament for Aberdeenshire East Gordon (2007–2011) In office 3 May 2007 – 24 March 2016 Preceded by Nora Radcliffe Succeeded by Gillian Martin Member of the Scottish Parliament for Banff and Buchan In office 6 May 1999 – 7 June 2001 Preceded by Constituency established Succeeded by Stewart Stevenson Member of Parliament for Banff and Buchan In office 12 June 1987 – 12 April 2010 Preceded by Albert McQuarrie Succeeded by Eilidh Whiteford
Personal details
Born	Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond (1954-12-31)31 December 1954 Linlithgow, Scotland
Died	12 October 2024(2024-10-12) (aged 69) Ohrid, North Macedonia
Political party	Alba Party (2021–2024)
Other political affiliations	Scottish National Party (1973–2018)[a] 79 Group (1981–1982)
Spouse	Moira McGlashan ​ (m. 1981)​
Education	Edinburgh College of Commerce University of St Andrews
Cabinet	First Salmond government Second Salmond government
Signature
Salmond's voice from the BBC programme Desert Island Discs, 21 January 2011[1]
^ Membership suspended briefly in 1982.

Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond (/ˈsæmənd/ SAM-ənd; 31 December 1954 – 12 October 2024) was a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure in the Scottish nationalist movement, he was Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) on two occasions, from 1990 to 2000 and from 2004 to 2014. He then served as leader of the Alba Party from 2021 until his death in 2024.

A graduate of the University of St Andrews, he worked as an economist in the Scottish Office, and later, the Royal Bank of Scotland. He was elected to the British House of Commons in 1987, serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Banff and Buchan from 1987 to 2010. In 1990, he successfully defeated Margaret Ewing in the SNP leadership contest. Salmond led the party through the first election to the Scottish Parliament in 1999, where the SNP emerged as the second largest party, with Salmond as the Leader of the Opposition. He was elected as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Banff and Buchan in that year's election. He resigned as leader in 2000 and stood down as an MSP the following year, when he was appointed leader of the SNP's Westminster group. Salmond was re-elected as leader of the SNP in the 2004 leadership contest, after running on a joint ticket with Nicola Sturgeon. She led the SNP at Holyrood until Salmond was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2007 for Gordon (later Aberdeenshire East). The SNP placed first, ahead of the governing Labour Party in the 2007 election by one seat, with Salmond securing a confidence and supply support from the Scottish Greens, resulting in Salmond's appointment as first minister.

Salmond led an SNP minority government in his first term. His government passed landmark legislation, including the abolition of university tuition fees, the scrapping of prescription charges and commitment to renewable energy. Salmond was the first nationalist first minister and in his first term he failed to obtain support for a referendum on Scottish independence due to insufficient support. At the 2011 Scottish Parliament election the SNP won with an overall majority, a feat previously thought almost impossible under the additional member system used in elections for the Scottish Parliament. As of 2024, this is the only election in which a party has won a majority in the Scottish Parliament. Salmond used this mandate to hold a referendum, which led to the signing of the Edinburgh Agreement and the 2014 referendum. The Yes Scotland campaign, which his deputy Sturgeon led, was defeated in the referendum. As a result, Salmond resigned and was succeeded by Sturgeon.

Returning to Westminster, Salmond was elected MP for Gordon in the 2015 general election. He was the SNP International Affairs and Europe spokesperson from 2015 to 2017. He left the House of Commons at the 2017 general election after losing his seat to the Scottish Conservative Party candidate Colin Clark.^[2] In August 2018, Salmond resigned from the party to fight allegations of rape and sexual assault, which he denied.^[3] In January 2019, he was charged with 14 offences, including attempted rape and sexual assault, but was awarded compensation of £500,000 by the Scottish Government in August 2019 and later acquitted of all charges after trial in March 2020. In 2021, he criticised Sturgeon for her government's flawed investigations into these allegations which resulted in a political scandal. Salmond later was announced as the leader of a new pro-independence party, the Alba Party. The party failed to gain any seats in the 2021 national and 2022 local elections. He led the party until his death in 2024.