Scotland’s former First Minister Alex Salmond has died suddenly at the age of 69. The former MP and MSP, who led the country between 2007 and 2014, became ill while attending an international conference in North Macedonia.
The North Macedonian government said Mr Salmond had lost consciousness at the Inex Olgica hotel, near the city of Ohrid, at about 15:30 local time on Saturday.
Local media reports said he collapsed during a lunch and was pronounced dead at the scene. The Alba party, which he led, believe the cause of death to be a heart attack, according to the Press Association news agency.Tributes have poured in from across the political spectrum, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer describing him as being a “monumental figure of Scottish and UK politics”.
Salmond’s succcessor as first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said he had been her mentor and that “for more than a decade we formed one of the most successful partnerships in UK politics”.
King Charles said he and the Queen were “greatly saddened” to hear of Salmond’s sudden death, adding: “His devotion to Scotland drove his decades of public service
“We extend our deep condolences to his family and loved ones at this time”.
He had led the SNP to power when they won the Scottish Parliament election in 2007, having previously been the party’s leader between 1990 and 2000.
Salmond, Scotland’s first pro-independence first minister, then led the SNP to an unprecedented majority in the election four years later – which paved the way for the referendum to be held.
Under his leadership, the Scottish government also introduced popular policies including free NHS prescriptions and free university tuition fees for Scottish students.
After quitting as first minister, he had a spectacular fallout with Sturgeon over her government’s mishandling of harassment complaints against him.
Salmond was also cleared of serious sexual offence charges after a trial in Edinburgh in 2020.
He had been charged with 13 offences, including attempted rape, but was acquitted of all of the charges against him after two weeks of evidence at the High Court.
The women who made the allegations against Salmond – which dated back to his time as first minister – had included an SNP politician, a party worker and several current and former Scottish government civil servants and officials.
During his evidence to the court, he said the claims made about his alleged conduct were “deliberate fabrications for a political purpose” or “exaggerations. Salmond led the pro-independence side ahead of the referendum in 2014, and resigned as first minister after Scottish voters backed remaining in the UK by 55% to 45%.
Source: BBC
