Alex Salmond
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| The Right Honourable Alex Salmond MP MSP |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office May 16, 2007 |
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| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Deputy | Nicola Sturgeon |
| Preceded by | Jack McConnell |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office September 3, 2004 |
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| Preceded by | John Swinney |
| In office September 22, 1990 – September 26, 2000 |
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| Preceded by | Gordon Wilson |
| Succeeded by | John Swinney |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office May 3, 2007 |
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| Preceded by | Nora Radcliffe |
| Majority | 2,062 (5.8%) |
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Member of Parliament
for Banff and Buchan |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office June 11, 1987 |
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| Preceded by | Albert McQuarrie |
| Majority | 11,837 (31.8%) |
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| Born | 31 December 1954 Linlithgow, Scotland |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Political party | Scottish National Party |
| Spouse | Moira Salmond |
| Residence | Bute House (official) Strichen, Buchan (private) |
| Alma mater | University of St Andrews |
| Occupation | Economist |
| Website | http://www.snp.org/people/alex |
Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond, (pronounced /ˈsamənd/) known as Alex Salmond (born December 31, 1954, Linlithgow), is the First Minister of Scotland, heading a minority Scottish Government.
He is leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), Member of Parliament for the constituency of Banff and Buchan, and the Member of the Scottish Parliament for Gordon. He is currently serving his second term as leader of the SNP, taking over from John Swinney. He had previously been leader between 1990 and 2000.
The SNP won the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, with 47 seats - one seat ahead of their nearest rivals, the Scottish Labour Party. On 16 May 2007, Alex Salmond became First Minister, heading a minority SNP administration.
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[edit] Education and career before politics
Born in Linlithgow, West Lothian, Salmond is the son of Robert Fyfe Findlay Salmond and the late Mary Stewart Salmond (nee Milne), both of whom were civil servants. Salmond attended Linlithgow Academy [1] 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. In 1983 he devised the “Royal Bank / BBC Oil Index”, which continues monthly publication to this day.
[edit] Early political career
Salmond became active in the SNP when he joined the Federation of Student Nationalists at St Andrews University in 1973 while 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.
[edit] Expulsion and re-admission
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, suspended from membership of the SNP when the 79 Group was banned within the larger party. In 1981, he married Moira French McGlashan, a senior civil servant with the Scottish Office.
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, and in 1985 he was elected as the SNP's Vice Convener for Publicity.
[edit] First time at Westminster
In 1987 he was elected Member of Parliament for Banff and Buchan and later that year became Senior Vice Convener (Deputy Leader) of the SNP. 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. Salmond served as a member of the House of Commons Energy Select Committee from 1987 to 1992.
[edit] First time as SNP leader
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 by 486 votes to Ewing's 146.
His first test as leader was the United Kingdom general election in 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 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.
[edit] Devolution
The SNP increased its number of MPs from four to six in the 1997 General Election, which saw a landslide victory for the Labour Party. After election, Labour legislated for a devolved Scottish parliament in Edinburgh.
Although still committed to a fully independent Scotland, Salmond signed the SNP up to supporting the campaign for devolution, and, along with Scottish Labour leader Donald Dewar and Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Jim Wallace, 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.
Salmond's first spell as leader was characterised by a moderation of his earlier left-wing views and by his firmly placing the SNP into a gradualist, but still pro-independence, strategy.
[edit] Kosovo
Salmond was one of the few British politicians to oppose the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999[1]. He was opposed to the conflict because it was not authorised by a United Nations Security Council resolution, which was a controversial subject at the time. Despite this, Salmond was heavily criticised in the media for describing Tony Blair's decision to intervene militarily as an "unpardonable folly" [2].
[edit] High media profile
Several years as party leader earned Salmond an unusually high profile for an SNP politician in the London-based media. In 1998, Salmond won the Spectator Award for Political strategist of the Year. Salmond has taken 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. [3] Throughout his time in politics, Salmond has maintained his interest in horse racing, previously writing a weekly column for The Scotsman and appearing a number of times on Channel 4’s "The Morning Line".
[edit] Resignation and time in Westminster
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.
In 2001 he left the Scottish Parliament to lead the SNP group in the House of Commons. 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 attempt of Adam Price, a Plaid Cymru MP, 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 were consciously intended to deceive the public.
[edit] Return as leader
In a surprise announcement on 15 July 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 would definitely 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. [4]
Although he was re-elected in the United Kingdom general election of 2005, he 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 the Parliament from his deputy Nicola Sturgeon.
[edit] 2007 election
Salmond stood as a candidate for the Gordon constituency, represented since 1999 by Liberal Democrat Nora Radcliffe[5]. Salmond won the seat with 41% of the vote, and a majority of 2,062, returning to the Scottish Parliament after six years' absence.
[edit] First Minister
In the election the SNP emerged as the largest party, winning 47 seats to Labour's 46. The Liberal Democrats declined to take part in coalition negotiations, leaving the SNP without a governing majority. However the Green party agreed to support an SNP minority administration on finance and confidence issues and to vote for Salmond to become First Minister.[6]
Salmond was duly elected as the Scottish Parliament's nominee for First Minister on 16 May 2007, and was sworn in on 17 May [7] after receiving the Royal Warrant from the Queen and taking the official oath of allegiance before judges at the Court of Session
He formed a minority government, vowing to seek support in Parliament on a "policy by policy" basis. He is the first nationalist politician to hold the office, following three Labour First Ministers: Donald Dewar, Henry McLeish and Jack McConnell. In order to concentrate on his new role as First Minister, Salmond stood down as the SNP group leader at Westminster and was replaced by Angus Robertson.
After a year in office, Salmond's performance as First Minister has been hailed as "the real political success story of the past year" with 70% of voters believing he has done a good job.[8]
[edit] Criticism
Alex Salmond has shown support for billionaire Donald Trump to build his 'golfing paradise' on Menie Links in the north-east coast of Scotland [9]. Criticism of the project has been raised relating to effects on the environment, local wildlife and the construction of housing.[10].
In December 2007, the day before his ministers announced they would have the final say on the billionaire's plans for the resort, Salmond met with Trump's spokesman [11].
In June, Salmond threw a dinner party at the First Minister's official residence, Bute House and was accused of using the event to gain support for his administration from high-profile individuals. The total cost to the tax-payer amounted to nearly £1,500[12]. Guests included businessmen Brian Souter and the arch-unionist owner of Rangers Sir David Murray.
[edit] References
- ^ SNP News Release 30/03/99 12:06
- ^ BBC News, 29 March 1999
- ^ BBC News- "Salmond calls Blair's bluff"
- ^ Edinburgh News- "Salmond is SNP leader again with Sturgeon as No 2"
- ^ BBC News- "Salmond to contest Holyrood seat"
- ^ Scottish Green Party website
- ^ "Salmond officially first minister", BBC News, May 17, 2007
- ^ The high and the low road: how Gordon Brown must envy Alex Salmond’s success story, The Times, April 18, 2008
- ^ Trump in the rough on a fairway to heaven
- ^ Trump golf plan 'all about homes'
- ^ SNP accused of 'hypocrisy' as Salmond is urged to explain Trump meeting
- ^ Scotland on Sunday
[edit] External links
- Alex Salmond MP official biography at the site of the SNP
- Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Alex Salmond MP
- TheyWorkForYou.com - Alex Salmond MP
- The Public Whip - Alex Salmond MP
- BBC News - Alex Salmond profile
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Albert McQuarrie |
Member of Parliament for Banff and Buchan 1987 – present |
Incumbent |
| Scottish Parliament | ||
| Preceded by Nora Radcliffe |
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Gordon 2007 – present |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by Constituency Created |
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Banff and Buchan 1999–2001 |
Succeeded by Stewart Stevenson |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Jack McConnell |
First Minister of Scotland 2007 – present |
Incumbent |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by John Swinney |
Leader of the Scottish National Party 2004 – present |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by Gordon Wilson |
Leader of the Scottish National Party 1990–2000 |
Succeeded by John Swinney |
| Order of precedence in Scotland | ||
| Preceded by The Rt. Hon. Michael Martin (Speaker of the House of Commons) |
Gentlemen Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland |
Succeeded by Alex Fergusson (Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament) |
