Alex Salmond denies he is plotting political comeback

Former First Minister Alex Salmond has denied reports that he is set for a shock attempt at a political comeback by returning to his former House of Commons seat at the next general election.

Mr Salmond represented the Aberdeenshire constituency of Banff and Buchan from 1987-2010 in the House of Commons, but when he made his return to Westminster he won in the Gordon constituency in 2015, before being defeated last year by Conservative Colin Clark.

The Daily Record reported today that the former First Minister told a meeting of his local party that if Brexit led to a general election, he would be tempted to stand ‘further North’ than Gordon, taken to be a reference to Banff and Buchan.

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However, when contacted by the Scotsman Mr Salmond denied the reporting, claiming he had ‘said no such thing’ at the meeting in question.

The ex-SNP leader also said he had nothing to add to his recent speech in Morningside, where he claimed Scottish Independence was inevitable.

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The Conservatives also won the Banff and Buchan seat from the SNP at the snap general election of last year, and if Mr Salmond stood he would be attempting to overturn David Duguid’s 3693 majority, more than 1,000 votes higher than the majority in Gordon.

Mr Salmond has come under fire for accepting a role on the Russian backed broadcast Russia Today (RT) which is accused of being a propaganda outlet for the Kremlin regime.

A Scottish Tory spokesman told the Record: “Alex Salmond was given his jotters by the people of Gordon in spectacular style last year. he’d get a similar response from voters in Banff and Buchan.”