Date and location of Alex Salmond's funeral revealed

Alex Salmond is to be buried in a week’s time in his Aberdeenshire hometown.

The former first minister’s funeral will be held at Strichen Parish Church at 1pm on Tuesday, October 29. The service will be for family and close friends only, followed by a private burial in Strichen Cemetery.

Former first minister Alex Salmond | Jane Barlow/Alex Salmond

A larger memorial service will be announced by his family in due course.

Mr Salmond died from a heart attack at the age of 69 on October 12 during a conference in North Macedonia. Love politics? Then sign up for The Steamie daily newsletter

The Alba Party leader was repatriated back to Scotland after Scottish businessman Sir Tom Hunter paid for a charter flight, and his body was led from Aberdeen Airport to Strichen by the Yes Bikers.

Over the weekend it was reported his former protégé Nicola Sturgeon would be banned from both the funeral and any future memorial service.

However Kenny MacAskill, the acting leader of the Alba Party who stepped in following Mr Salmond’s death, says it is “premature” to suggest Ms Sturgeon would not be welcome.

Following Mr Salmond’s death, Ms Sturgeon issued a statement acknowledging “the breakdown of our relationship”, but added: “However, it remains the fact that for many years Alex was an incredibly significant figure in my life.”

Alex Salmond’s body being brought back to Aberdeen Airport | Jane Barlow/Press Association

The pair publicly fell out over harassment claims against Mr Salmond, who was cleared of any criminality at a High Court trial in Edinburgh in 2020.

Mr Salmond and his legal team admitted the former first minister “could have been a better man” and had acted in an “inappropriate” manner while in office.

During Ms Sturgeon’s tenure in Bute House, Mr Salmond was highly critical of her leadership and the SNP’s stalled independence strategy.

Read more: SNP must move on from infighting inspired by bitter Salmond-Sturgeon feud

Mr Salmond was the First Minister from 2007 until his resignation in the days after the independence referendum in 2014.

He left the SNP and went on to launch the Alba Party in 2021 in his bid to further the cause of independence.

The former SNP leader was the MSP for Banff and Buchan from 1999 until 2001, Gordon from 2007 until 2011, and Aberdeenshire East from 2011 to 2016.

He was also the MP for Banff and Buchan from 1987 until 2010 and then Gordon from 2015 until 2017.