'Never say never': Alex Salmond has not ruled out reconciliation with Nicola Sturgeon

However, Mr Salmond criticised the record of his predecessor during an Edinburgh Fringe appearance

Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond, pictured before their relationship broke down

Alex Salmond has not ruled out a possible reconciliation with Nicola Sturgeon, insisting: “Never say never.”

However, the former first minister aimed a number of barbs at his predecessor while appearing on Iain Dale’s All Talk show at the Edinburgh Fringe.

He said his pro-independence Alba Party is targeting as many as 24 MSPs at the next Scottish Parliament election in 2026.

The relationship between Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon broke down in the aftermath of sexual misconduct allegations made against him.

Mr Salmond, who was first minister between 2007 and 2014, was charged with 14 offences, including attempted rape and sexual assault, in 2019. He was acquitted of all charges after a high-profile trial in 2020.

The former first minister also won a court battle with the Scottish Government over its handling of claims made against him. The Government’s botched handling of allegations was later the subject of a Holyrood inquiry, during which both Ms Sturgeon and her predecessor gave evidence before MSPs.

During an on-stage interview with Mr Dale last year, Ms Sturgeon was asked if she had been in touch with Mr Salmond or spoken to him. She replied: “Nope.” Asked if she thought she ever will, she again replied: “Nope”

Mr Salmond claimed to be “oblivious” to Ms Sturgeon’s comments. Asked about a possible reconciliation, he said: “Look, you should never say never and it would be sad if that was the case, but there we are. To be perfectly frank, I think Nicola has got more immediate things to worry about than her relationship with me.”

The latter was a reference to the ongoing police investigation into the SNP’s finances, which saw Ms Sturgeon arrested and released without charge in June.

Ms Sturgeon is due to be interviewed by Mr Dale on Thursday. Mr Salmond agreed with former Brexit Secretary David Davis, who he was appearing alongside, that she had received “bad advice” in signing up to this.

Mr Dale told the audience he had a back-up guest organised in case Ms Sturgeon pulls out, in the form of the broadcaster Gyles Brandreth.

Elsewhere, Mr Salmond said Alba is targeting 15 per cent of the regional list vote at the next Scottish Parliament elections in 2026. He added: “That will get us about 24 seats, and if the cards fall correctly then we’ll be able to be a key part of an independence coalition in that parliament.”

He said Alba wanted to use this as a democratic mandate to negotiate independence, claiming the referendum route “has been blocked, partly due to the tactics employed by Nicola [Sturgeon]”.

Alba failed to secure a single MSP at the Scottish Parliament election in 2021. However, Mr Salmond argued political parties “take time to establish themselves”.

He said Humza Yousaf, the new First Minister, should end the SNP’s power-sharing agreement with the Greens. Mr Salmond argued Mr Yousaf has a “huge task in hand to sort out the Scottish Government”, and pointed to issues including the ferries fiasco.

He accused Patrick Harvie, the Greens co-leader and a Scottish Government minister, of making “fundamentally stupid” comments in a row with Labour peer Lord Willie Haughey over heat pumps.