Getty Images
On September 19, 2014, Edinburgh woke up to fog that soaked the stones of the Old Town.
The cacophony of the independence referendum campaign that had echoed across Scotland for three years had faded, and Alex Salmond, the embodiment of pugnacious confidence, looked pale and exhausted.
It became clear overnight that the British people had voted decisively, if not overwhelmingly, to remain in the UK and maintain our 307-year-old union.
Soon, we were forced into the drawing room of Bute House, the first minister’s residence, to watch Salmond announce his resignation as leader of the devolved government he had ruled since 2007 and of the Scottish National Party, which he had long ruled. Longer.
Although it was clear that Mr. Salmond accepted the people’s democratic verdict, there was a hint of defiance in his words, although there was a hint of disappointment in his demeanor.
“For me as a leader, my time is coming to an end, but for Scotland the operation continues and the dream will never die,” he said.
Earlier, he had given a similar message to his devastated supporters, saying: “Instead of dwelling on the distance we have not achieved, let’s look at the distance we have come.” spoke.
There was definitely some distance.
Mr Salmond joined the SNP during a period of relative success in the 1970s, but the party and the independence movement were still uncertain about what it would become under his leadership from 1990 to 2000 and from 2004 to 2014. There was a shadow.
Salmond modernized and professionalized the SNP, overhauled its machinery and honed its message until it shone like granite in the sun.
He loved intrigue, but also the cut and thrust of Westminster politics, and was able to use words to their fullest potential.
Salmond’s interviews, speeches and contributions in the House of Commons and the Scottish Parliament were peppered with insightful and quotable tidbits that brought politics down to its essentials.
Those nuggets are often accompanied by historical references, poetic flourishes, or both.
During the referendum campaign, he quoted Fletcher of Saltoun, approvingly pointing out that the Scottish nobility had voiced opposition to the union with England in 1707.
It sounded as if he expected his name to be in the same history books soon.
PA media
At the time, it didn’t seem like an entirely utopian hope for the boy from Linlithgow, who had developed into a strategically savvy soundbiter and a master at turning defense into attack.
His curt answer to a tough question about the economic challenges an independent Scotland might face was: “Of course” even in independence every household would still have three taps (one for oil, one for whiskey and one for water). They scoffed and said that it would not be installed. water.
It’s a pure change of direction, cleverly deployed, and invites listeners to smile along rather than think about the question, while also reminding us that in independent Scotland people actually have all three of these taps installed in their own homes. It also gave me a vague impression that there might be one there.
Some voters found this approach patronizing, disingenuous, or even self-righteous. But many others were pleased with his ability to make a case for troublesome journalists, particularly those from the “South” who put their support for labor unions to the fore.
Just last month, Salmond was seen pranking BBC Radio 4’s Any question?. He pointed out that Labor, the SNP and the Conservatives were blaming each other for cutting unpopular benefits for some pensioners, then paused to laugh and said: “I agree with everyone.” said the punch line.
He remains a potential thorn in the side of both his unionist opponents and his former nationalist allies.
PA media
Mr Salmond founded the Alba Party after leaving the SNP.
Of course, he wasn’t always a strategic genius.
Under Salmond’s leadership, the pro-independence Alba party had little electoral success.
His judgment regarding international situations may be questionable. In 1999, he was widely criticized for dismissing NATO military action in Yugoslavia as “unacceptable folly”.
Robin Cook, the foreign secretary at the time, accused him of failing to draw a clear distinction between the determination of democracies to protect themselves from dictatorships and authoritarian states engaged in ethnic cleansing.
More than 20 years later, Nicola Sturgeon, Salmond’s protege and successor as prime minister, has declared herself “appalled” by Salmond’s decision to host a chat show on Kremlin-backed broadcaster RT.
There are other flaws that some have chosen to ignore as inconveniences, others as irrelevant.
PA media
Salmond was acquitted following a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh in 2020.
His trial on sexual assault charges revealed that his behavior with women was sometimes inappropriate.
He was acquitted by a jury of his peers at the High Court in Edinburgh. He will go to his grave without a criminal record.
But his admissions of conduct while in office – pouring alcohol to young female staff members in the prime minister’s official residence bedroom late at night and apologizing on at least one occasion for the way he approached them – were shocking. .
The description of one such encounter as a “sleepy embrace” drew particular scorn from critics.
Even his lawyer was unwilling to fully excuse Mr Salmond’s actions, saying he “certainly could have been a better man”.
Not only was he released from court, but he also won a civil suit against the Scottish Government for handling grievances, and he maintained to the end that there were people in the SNP who conspired against him. There could be further fallout from this whole incident.
PA media
Salmond supported independence from fringe pursuits into the mainstream
If we consider Alex Salmond’s career in purely political terms, perhaps his most important call was to throw the weight of the SNP behind the Scottish Parliament election campaign as a stepping stone on the road to independence, I would have sided with him rather than with the so-called gradualists. He is known as a fundamentalist who views decentralization as a distraction.
Historians will decide whether this decision ultimately leads to the realization of Salmond’s dream.
For now, Scottish politics are in flux.
After 17 years in power at Holyrood, John Swinney’s SNP heads to the 2026 Scottish Parliament elections following Labor’s landslide victory in this year’s general election.
There is no clear mechanism for the SNP to advance its constitutional priorities for the time being after the UK Supreme Court ruled that any future independence referendum would require Westminster permission.
And Mr Salmond has been traumatized by a deeply fractured movement – most vividly illustrated by the complete breakdown of his political partnership with Ms Sturgeon – and by internal party battles over his judgment and actions in particular. He left behind a defeated party.
And yet.
On the day he resigned as prime minister, he said, “I expect there will be a vigorous movement by tens of thousands of people who will meekly refuse to return to the shadows of politics.”
Ten years after the vote, it has proven to be prescient.
There is no immediate prospect of Scottish independence, but we deny that Alex Salmond has promoted this cause more than anyone in modern Scottish history, elevating it from a fringe pursuit to the mainstream aspiration of almost half of the electorate. There will be very few people.
