Tributes to Alex Salmond continued to be paid across the political spectrum following the death of former Scotland's First Minister and ex-SNP (Scottish National Party) leader Alex Salmond, who collapsed and died suddenly at an event in North Macedonia.
The organiser of the Gjorge Ivanov School for Young conference said Salmond collapsed "into the arms" of a fellow delegate during lunch leaving everyone in a "state of shock". An ambulance was called but despite attempts to resuscitate Salmond he was pronounced dead at the scene
Scotland's current First Minister, John Swinney, said Salmond had taken the idea of Scottish independence from the periphery to the centre of politics. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and King Charles join past and present politicians in paying tribute to former Scottish first minister.
A member of the Church of Scotland, Salmond joined the SNP at a time of relative success in the 1970s, but the party and the independence movement were still shadows of what they would become under his leadership. He modernised and professionalised the SNP, ensuring its machinery was overhauled and its message was polished until it glinted like granite in the sun.
He loved the cut and thrust of Westminster politics, with PM Starmer calling him a "monumental figure," while King Charles said that Salmond's devotion to Scotland was his drive during his decades of public service.
After quitting as First Minister, Salmond had a spectacular fallout with his successor, Nicola Sturgeon, over her government’s mishandling of harassment complaints against him. In 2019 he won a judicial review, ruling the investigation was unlawful, unfair and "tainted by apparent bias."
The following year Salmond faced a criminal trial where he was charged with serious sexual offences, but he was acquitted on a majority verdict. In 2021, he announced that he had joined and become leader of the Alba Party, a new pro-independence party, to contest the Scottish Parliament election of that year.
The party won zero seats, but Salmond pledged the party would continue campaigning. He also claimed that the party had established itself as a political force in only six weeks and would remain on the political scene.
The following week, Salmond stated that all pro-independence parties needed to work together if Scottish independence was to be achieved. He said that the proposed 2023 independence referendum would need to take place, but if it did not, then there would be huge political change in Scotland, in which Alba would play a strong part.
Mark Donfried, the organiser of the event in North Macedonia, said: “Alex Salmond was a role model and an inspiration to young delegates at the conference where he died.
The director at the Academy for Cultural Diplomacy went on to say that Salmond was an active member of the organisation. "Most of the participants here were young leaders and none of them had ever experienced anything like this,” he went on to say.
"I think there was a feeling of shock, a feeling of loss and of not really knowing what to do." Donfried later led a prayer at the event.
"That was important for us all, to have a moment to come together and pause in the honour of Alex." Following the announcement of his death, flags at the Scottish Parliament Building in Edinburgh were lowered to half-mast, on the request of the Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone.
Married to Moira McGlashan, he was 69.