Alex Salmond death – latest: Nicola Sturgeon pays tribute to ‘mentor’

Elections expert Sir John Curtice said Alex Salmond “did more than anybody else” to make independence central to the debate about Scotland’s future.

Speaking to Sky News On Sunday, Sir John said: “The truth is Mr Salmond is probably the person who did more than anybody else to move the argument about independence, and indeed his party, the Scottish Nationalist Party, from being a relatively fringe interest that never looked as though it was going to happen to be something that is now central to the debate about the future of Scotland,” he said.

He said the issue “continues to be central” even though the argument in favour was rejected by 55% of people in the 2014 independence referendum.

“So to that extent, yes, Mr Salmond didn’t succeed in delivering independence for his country, but he certainly ensured that the question as to whether or not Scotland should or should not be independent has become a central issue of Scottish politics,” he said.

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Alba Party deputy leader Kenny MacAskill has described Alex Salmond’s death as “a loss for the nation of Scotland”.

Speaking to the PA news agency, Mr MacAskill said: “His lifetime has delivered so much. His political record as unsurpassed, I think, in Scottish politics, not simply in his generation, but going back many generations. This is a man who took a small party, persuaded me and others to join it, when Scotland was to some extent, and certainly the nationalist community, on his knees.

“There was no Scottish Parliament. There seemed no likelihood of there one coming, and independence was viewed as a fanciful dream. This is a man who got us to a situation where we have a Holyrood parliament. We came within a whisker of independence in a referendum. And where independence now polls regularly not far off 50%. That is the legacy of Alex Salmond, that one man delivered so much more.”

Asked about how Mr Salmond was affected by the lack of electoral success of the Alba party, which he set up in 2021, Mr MacAskill said: “When I was last meeting with him, and it wasn’t that long ago, very, very recently, things were coming together for Alex, and indeed, things are looking far more propitious for the Alba party.

“Alex was chirpy and cheery. He was always a cheery chap in many ways, certainly gave that public perception, even when privately there were issues challenging. But as I say, I think Alex had already founded the modern SNP, taking it to success, and he was embarking on doing it yet again in a different political party.”

He added that it was too soon to think about what Mr Salmond’s death means for the Alba party, saying: “At the present moment, this is a time to grieve. It’s the time to reflect on Alex’s legacy. But I think all of us who are in the Alba party share Alex’s comments that the dream shall never die.”

A leader of the conference in North Macedonia where Alex Salmond spent his last few days said the forum is “in a state of shock” over his death.

Mark Donfried, director of the Academy for Cultural Diplomacy, told the PA news agency: “He was here the last few days, he gave excellent participation two days ago at the panel discussion.

“He was really in the best of spirits, the best of health, and I was sitting across from him at lunch yesterday when all of a sudden he just went out and fell into the arms of a colleague of mine on the other side of the table. I immediately got up and ran to call an ambulance and when I came back, he was on the floor.”

Mr Donfried added: “We’re all completely shocked – the entire hotel, the conference, it’s been very difficult for all of us.

“He was a great man who we all looked up to and so we’re still all in a state of shock.

“Last night, we had a brief moment of reflection on his legacy.

“There was a humility with Alex, he had an authenticity, it was amazing to see how he’d touched individuals he had only known for a few days.”

Scottish First Minster John Swinney said Alex Salmond “left a fundamental footprint on Scottish politics”.

Speaking on Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, Mr Swinney said his predecessor “Inspired a generation of people to believe in Scottish independence, and that generation is still believing in Scottish independence, and still wants Scottish independence”.

Asked about his abiding memory of Mr Salmond, the First Minister said: “Obviously, I worked very closely with Alex Salmond, and I suspect the moment where I was most touched by what he did was when I was driving to Edinburgh on the day after the 2007 election, and I listened to him speaking on the radio when he arrived in Edinburgh, and he talked about Scotland had changed and changed forever and would never be the same again because of our election win in 2007.

“And it was a deeply emotional moment for me, because I heard my party leader at the time indicating that we’d taken a colossal step forward on our journey to independence, and I fondly remember that moment, and what it meant to me is signifying the progress that we had made.”

Jonathan Reynolds has said Alex Salmond was an “incredibly big figure” and “formidable campaigner”.

“(He was) an incredibly big figure in Scottish and UK politics, a formidable campaigner to be on the other side from as a Unionist.

“I could recognise in him, even though we had a different point of view, a passion for Scotland that underpinned everything he did,” the Business Secretary told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips.

Mr Reynolds told Laura Kuenssberg: “I always felt, despite being for independence, he knew how to use the House of Commons, he was at home in that environment, and a huge contribution to politics, no doubt about that.”

Actor Brian Cox has said former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond was “one of the greatest political thinkers” the British Isles has ever produced.

Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, he said: “He was a lot of fun.

“He was very entertaining. He had great humanity, he was probably I think one of the greatest political thinkers, certainly Scotland has ever produced, and I think possibly these islands have ever produced.

“He was an extraordinary man. I think his essential appeal was his humanity and how he came across to other people.”

He said when he first met Mr Salmond he was a disillusioned Labour supporter.

“I felt the one place where social democracy was happening was back in my own country, so I suddenly had to rethink my own feelings and Alex enabled me to do that,” he said.

The former prime minister and Labour Party leader said: “Very sorry to hear the news about Alex Salmond.

“Whatever our disagreements he was a huge figure in Scottish and UK politics and was clearly dedicated to Scotland and its people.

“My deep condolences to his wife Moira and his wider family and friends.”

Scotland’s First Minister and SNP leader John Swinney said he “took the Scottish National Party from the fringes of Scottish politics into government and led Scotland so close to becoming an independent country”.

His former colleague Nicola Sturgeon acknowledged the “breakdown” of her relationship with Mr Salmond but praised him for taking Scotland to the “brink of independence”.

“He was my mentor, and for more than a decade we formed one of the most successful partnerships in UK politics,” she wrote.

Kenny MacAskill, Alba’s deputy leader, said the party “grieves the loss of their founder and leader” but that “the dream he cherished so closely and came so close to delivering will never die.”