Alex Salmond

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Alex Salmond MP
Alex Salmond
Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP)
In office
September 22, 1990 – September 26, 2000
September 3, 2004 – present
Preceded by Gordon Wilson
John Swinney
Succeeded by John Swinney
Incumbent
Constituency Banff and Buchan (UK Parliament)
Majority 11,837 (31.8%)
Born December 31, 1954 (age 52)
Linlithgow, Scotland
Political party Scottish National Party
Website http://www.snp.org/people/alex

Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond, known as Alex Salmond (born 31 December 1954), is a Scottish politician, National Convener (leader) of the Scottish National Party (SNP) and Member of Parliament for the constituency of Banff and Buchan. He is the SNP's Parliamentary Leader in the British House of Commons.[1]

He is currently serving his second term as leader, taking over from John Swinney. He had previously been leader between 1990 and 2000.

Contents

[edit] Education and early career

Born in Linlithgow, West Lothian, Salmond was educated at Linlithgow Academy and the University of St Andrews, where he graduated with an MA in Economics and History. He was first employed as an assistant economist in the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland from 1978. In 1980, he joined the Royal Bank of Scotland, for which he worked until 1987, first as an assistant economist, then as the Oil Economist and latterly as Royal Bank Economist. While with the Royal Bank, he wrote and broadcast extensively for both domestic and international outlets. He also contributed regularly to oil and energy conferences, and in 1983 devised the “Royal Bank / BBC Oil Index” which continues monthly publication to this day.

Salmond became active in the SNP when he joined its St Andrews University Scottish Nationalist Association in 1973 whilst a student at St Andrews. As a left-winger at the time he joined, he had considerable doubts as to whether or not the Labour Party would legislate for a devolved Scottish Assembly.

Salmond started his political life as a committed left-winger inside the SNP and was a leading member of the socialist republican organisation within it, the 79 Group. He was, along with other group leaders, expelled from the SNP when the 79 Group was banned within the larger party.

[edit] First time in Westminster

Following the SNP's National Council narrowly voting to uphold the expulsion, Salmond and the others were allowed back into the party a month later. In 1987 he was elected Member of Parliament for Banff and Buchan, Scotland. He was at this time still viewed as being firmly on the left of the party and had become a key ally of Jim Sillars, who joined him in the British House of Commons when he won a by-election for the seat of Glasgow Govan in 1988.

When Gordon Wilson stood down as SNP leader in 1990, Salmond decided to contest the leadership. His only opponent was Margaret Ewing, whom Sillars decided to support. This caused considerable consternation amongst the SNP left as the two main left leaders were opposing each other in the contest. It was also around this time that Salmond and Sillars drifted apart. Salmond went on to win the leadership election.

His first test as leader was the United Kingdom general election 1992, with the SNP having high hopes of making an electoral breakthrough. However the party, whilst considerably increasing its vote, failed to win a large number of seats; Sillars lost his, causing him to famously describe the Scottish people as '90 minute patriots'. This comment ended the political friendship between Salmond and Sillars, and Sillars would soon become a vocal critic of Salmond's style of leadership.

The SNP managed to increase its MPs from four to six in the 1997 Labour Party general-election landslide. After their victory, Labour legislated for a devolved Scottish parliament in Edinburgh.

Although still committed to a fully independent Scotland outside the United Kingdom, Salmond signed the SNP up to supporting the campaign for devolution, and along with Scottish Labour leader Donald Dewar played an active part in securing the victory for devolution in the Scotland referendum of 1997. However, many hard line fundamentalists in the SNP objected to committing the party to devolution, as it was short of full political Scottish independence.

Several years as party leader earned Salmond an unusually high profile for an SNP politician in the London-based media, leading to invitations to take part in entertainment programmes such as Have I Got News For You and Call My Bluff. His appearances on the latter, and more specifically the fact that he held on to one of the famous 'bluff' cards that are used as props in the show as a souvenir, proved to have an unexpected significance in the run-up to the first elections to the Scottish Parliament. To counter his frustration at having to sit in silence through what he claimed was an inappropriately political speech by Tony Blair at a charity lunch, he held up the bluff card as the Prime Minister began querying Scotland's economic prospects should independence occur[2].

[edit] Exile and return

Salmond was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 1999 and was one of its highest profile members. He stood down as SNP leader in 2000 and was replaced by his preferred successor John Swinney, who defeated Alex Neil for the post.

His leadership was characterised by a moderation of his earlier left-wing views and by his firmly placing the SNP into an SNP gradualist, but still pro-independence, strategy.

In 2001 he left the Scottish Parliament to lead the SNP Group in the British Parliament, a role he still occupies. During the prolonged parliamentary debates in the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq he voiced strong opposition to Britain's participation. In the aftermath of the war, he lent support to the initiative of Adam Price, an MP from the SNP's sister party in Wales, Plaid Cymru, to attempt to impeach Tony Blair over the Iraq issue. Salmond has gone further than many anti-war politicians in claiming that Blair's statements on the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq had been consciously intended to deceive the public.

In a surprise announcement on July 15, 2004, Alex Salmond announced that he would be a candidate in the forthcoming election for the leadership of the SNP (which arose after John Swinney's resignation). Salmond had previously said that he definitely would not be a candidate in that election, even claiming in jest that if he were elected he would resign. In the postal ballot of all members he went on to receive over 75% of the votes cast, placing him well ahead of his nearest rival Roseanna Cunningham.[3]

Although he was re-elected in the United Kingdom general election of 2005, he has made clear his intention to return to the Scottish Parliament at the Scottish parliamentary election, 2007, at which point he would take over the role of SNP group leader in that body from his deputy Nicola Sturgeon. He has confirmed his intention to stand in the Gordon constituency currently held by Liberal Democrat Nora Radcliffe[4].

[edit] Trivia

In 1998, he won the Spectator Award for Political strategist of the Year. Throughout his time in politics, he has maintained his interest in horse racing, writing a weekly column for The Scotsman and appearing a number of times on Channel 4’s "The Morning Line".

[edit] References

  1. ^ Parliament.uk- Scottish National Party Parliamentary Teams
  2. ^ BBC News- "Salmond calls Blair's bluff"
  3. ^ Edinburgh News- "Salmond is SNP leader again with Sturgeon as No 2"
  4. ^ BBC News- "Salmond to contest Holyrood seat"

[edit] External links

Wikisource
Wikisource has original works written by or about:
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Albert McQuarrie		 Member of Parliament for Banff and Buchan
1987 – present		 Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Gordon Wilson		 Leader of the Scottish National Party
1990–2000		 Succeeded by
John Swinney
Preceded by
John Swinney		 Leader of the Scottish National Party
2004 – present		 Incumbent


Leaders of the Scottish National Party
MacEwan, Gibb, Power, Young, Watson, McIntyre, Halliday, Donaldson, Wolfe, Wilson, Salmond, Swinney, Salmond
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