Alex Salmond's 'explosive rage' revealed by biography

A NEW biography of Alex Salmond paints the SNP leader as a man capable of "explosive rages" whose "merciless criticism" could leave members of his staff "an emotional train wreck".

The First Minister is revealed as a hard taskmaster whose demands led one former staff member to conclude that it "wasn't actually possible to work for Alex and maintain a serious (outside) relationship", the book claims.

An exclusive extract from the first ever biography of the First Minister, published in Scotland on Sunday today, reveals that Salmond would telephone his staff at all hours of the day, sometimes calling while he soaked in the bath.

Salmond: Against the Odds, by David Torrance, gives an insight into a leadership style that has led to comparisons with Gordon Brown, but which also inspires great loyalty and is characterised by acts of great "humanity".

Torrance quotes an unnamed senior Nationalist, who claims that workers in Salmond's Aberdeenshire office had a "really rough time". The Nationalist said he could be "explosive in his rage" and "merciless in his criticism" if he felt that work was not up to standard.

Recalling his temper, one former Westminster aide is quoted in the book saying: "It's a crushing thing, a soul-destroying emotional train wreck for an individual."

According to Torrance, the First Minister's temper was driven by the need to let off steam, but was also an attempt to get the best out of the people working for him. But "mostly," the biography claims, "it is just frustration at the inability of others to keep up with him."

But those who have worked with Salmond, acknowledge that his outbursts are soon forgotten and the First Minister does not bear a grudge. Torrance remarks that his temper "is not completely irrational" and "more often than not he has a point". In fact, his staff reckon that if Salmond stops being rude to people, then it is a sign that he has lost confidence in them.

Despite the verbal onslaughts, most people who worked for Salmond refer to his "basic humanity" and "personal kindness".

Torrance relates that on Salmond's first visit to the US as First Minister, he found out that his Washington fixer, Alison Duncan, was ill in bed. Salmond left his advisers, got into a taxi, brought her flowers and stood in her lounge singing a Burns lullaby until she came down from her bedroom.

"She was startled to say the least … but it gave her energy for months," former aide Colin Pyle told Torrance.

The biography, published by Birlinn, also talks of Salmond's supreme confidence in his own leadership and his "iron grip" on his civil servants. Some of those who Torrance interviewed for the book believe that Salmond has mellowed with age and say his sense of humour is far more apparent than earlier in his political career.