I last interviewed Alex Salmond just a few weeks ago. He did not hold back
Alex Salmond gave good copy. I last interviewed him just a few weeks ago, during which he accused the SNP's leadership of a "brain dead" response to its disastrous general election result and called a senior Scottish Government minister a "fud".
He was a divisive and controversial figure, but also undeniably charismatic and compelling. He was the sort of politician you paused to listen to if he came on the radio in the morning. Frankly, you can't say that for all of them.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdWe met at the Jolly restaurant in Edinburgh back in August to talk about the tenth anniversary of the independence referendum, in which the former first minister came closer than many believed possible to achieving his long-held dream. It must have been among his last print interviews, and he did not hold back.
Asked if Scotland was a better or worse country now than in 2014, he insisted it was worse “in every possible respect”. Hope was the major missing ingredient, he said. “Scotland was a very hopeful, optimistic place 10 years ago.”
He was scathing about his former party's response to the recent election. "What has been totally absent is any sign of any analysis or serious questions about what actually went wrong, and most of the reasons given are trivial to the point of banality,” he said.
"The SNP are giving the impression of being - the leadership - of being virtually brain dead at the present moment, and that's very worrying.”
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdAt the time we met, Angus Robertson, the Scottish Government's external affairs secretary, was the subject of internal party criticism over a meeting with Israel’s deputy ambassador to the UK.
"I think Angus is a fud, which is a Glaswegian expression which means somebody with an over-inflated view of his own abilities who tends to make mistakes, as he does,” Mr Salmond said bluntly.
He was less keen to talk about his fresh legal action against the Scottish Government over its botched handling of sexual harassment complaints made against him. “Look, I’ve got lawyers who do not approve of me speaking about the case, so stop speaking about it,” he said.
As I left the restaurant, he was already engaged in a conversation with a group sat at a table next to us.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdI did not know the former first minister well, even as a journalist. I started covering politics in 2017, a few months after he lost his Gordon constituency in that year’s general election. But dealings with him were always memorable.
This was not always for positive reasons. I’ll never forget the extraordinary press conference in 2018 at the Champany Inn in Linlithgow, when Mr Salmond told journalists he had made “many mistakes” in his life but never sexually harassed anyone.
I later covered his trial at the High Court in Edinburgh, which saw him acquitted of all criminal charges. His lawyer’s admission that some of his behaviour was inappropriate, and that he could have been a “better man”, nevertheless left a stain on his legacy.
Mr Salmond was a political titan who will leave a lasting imprint on Scotland. He had his sights set on returning to Holyrood in 2026 to once again shake things up. His death at the age of 69 means we will never know what might have been.
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.