Who was Alex Salmond and why was he such an important figure in politics?

Alex Salmond, who died on Saturday aged 69, leaves a long-lasting footprint on British politics and the cause of Scottish independence.

DALGETY BAY, SCOTLAND - JULY 3: Alba Party leader Alex Salmond pictured during a photocall at That Place In The Bay community cafe on the last day of campaigning in the UK General Election, on July 3, 2024, in Dalgety Bay, Scotland. (Photo by Ken Jack/Getty Images)
Former SNP leader Alex Salmond died while delivering a speech in North Macedonia on Saturday. (Getty Images)

The political world was shocked on Saturday as former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond died after delivering a speech in North Macedonia.

Salmond, 69, had made a speech at the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy Forum and is understood to have collapsed at lunch in a crowded room.

The pro-Scottish independence Alba party which he led said it understood he had suffered a heart attack, although there will be a post-mortem examination to confirm his cause of death.

Figures from across the UK's political spectrum have paid tribute to the former SNP leader - a loved and loathed figure who took Scotland to the brink of becoming an independent country.

While their relationship had been badly strained in recent years, his successor as SNP leader, Nicola Sturgeon, described him as her "mentor" and an "incredibly significant figure" in her life, with whom she formed "one of the most successful partnerships in UK politics".

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said Salmond "leaves behind a lasting legacy", acknowledging how he "cared deeply about Scotland’s heritage, history and culture" as first minister.

Current First Minister John Swinney said Salmond "worked tirelessly and fought fearlessly for the country that he loved", adding that he took the SNP "from the fringes of Scottish politics into government and led Scotland so close to becoming an independent country".

Here, Yahoo News takes a look at Salmond's long career, his major controversies and his long-lasting impact on British politics.

Born in Linlithgow in 1954, Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond was educated at Linlithgow Academy and St Andrew's University, where he first joined the SNP.

Graduating with a degree in economics and history, he worked as an economist for both the Government Economic Service and the Royal Bank of Scotland before being elected as an MP for the Banff and Buchan constituency in 1987.

His election at Westminster followed a turbulent period for the SNP, which saw its number of seats fall from 11 to two in the 1979 general election.

Salmond described his early days at Westminster as a "a one-man campaign of parliamentary disruption" - best illustrated when he was ejected from the chamber during the 1988 budget.

FILE - Alex Salmond speaks during a debate following the Government's defeat on their fishing policy on Dec. 19, 1995. (PA via AP, File)
Alex Salmond speaks during a debate in 1995. (AP)

As a young and brash newcomer, Salmond played a role in the breakaway faction of the party known as the "79 Group", which sought to take a more left-wing stance and capture disaffected Labour voters.

The group was expelled from the SNP in 1982, but Salmond was let back into the party after just one month and went on to become one of its leading strategists by 1985, and then its leader in 1990.

Outside of politics, Salmond married his partner, Moira, in 1981. He was a keen golfer and a fan of horse racing.

With the creation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, he went on to serve as leader of the opposition at Holyrood, while retaining his seat at Westminster. He stood down as SNP leader in 2000 and left the Scottish Parliament in 2001.

Returning as leader in 2004, he guided his party to a narrow Scottish Parliament election win in 2007 and then led a minority government as he became Scotland's first SNP First Minister - a feat many thought was unachievable.

Building on his success, Salmond led the SNP to an unprecedented landslide victory in the 2011 election - defying the polls by crushing its main rival, Scottish Labour.

The majority win was even more impressive considering the voting system at Holyrood is essentially designed to prevent such a result.

It gave the SNP the power to follow through with its manifesto pledge to hold an independence referendum, which would be held on 18 September 2014, following permission being granted by the Westminster government led by then-Prime Minister David Cameron.

Despite attempts by some in the "Yes" camp to move the focus away from him, Salmond was seen across the UK - and the wider world - as synonymous with the Scottish independence movement during the campaign.

TURRIFF, SCOTLAND - SEPTEMBER 18:  German Short Haired Pointer dogs Dude and Hector (R) meet First Minister Alex Salmond on September 18, 2014 in Turriff, Scotland. After many months of campaigning the people of Scotland today head to the polls to decide the fate of their country.  The referendum is too close to call but a Yes vote would see the break-up of the United Kingdom and Scotland would stand as an independent country for the first time since the formation of the Union.  (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
Alex Salmond during the 2014 Scottish independence referendum campaign. (Getty Images)

The polls narrowed and Yes Scotland appeared to have the momentum, but an eventual result of 55% to 45% to stay in the UK led to Salmond's resignation the day after the vote.

Salmond said that having brought the cause of Scottish independence to "base camp", it was time for someone else to try and reach the summit, adding that the "dream shall never die".

His deputy Nicola Sturgeon took the helm as SNP leader, becoming first minister by November, but Salmond was by no means done with politics.

He returned to Westminster after the 2015 general election, which saw the SNP win a staggering 56 out of Scotland's 59 Westminster constituencies.

As the party’s foreign affairs spokesman, and having gained a UK-wide profile thanks to the independence referendum, Salmond became one of the biggest names in Westminster after his time in Holyrood.

As the 2016 EU referendum approached, many suspected Salmond still had the ear of Sturgeon, but he insisted any moves towards a second independence vote were hers to make.

After Britain voted to leave the European Union, Salmond expressed a preference for a second Scottish independence vote sooner rather than later, suggesting that "No" voters would change their minds given the circumstances.

While the UK overall voted 52% to 48% for Brexit, voters in Scotland rejected leaving the EU by 62% to 38%.

The following years would see a fracturing of the relationship between Salmond and Sturgeon, culminating in the launch of his rival Scottish independence party, Alba, in 2021.

This was partly due to complaints made in 2018 that he'd sexually harassed two female members of staff during his time as first minister.

File photo dated 20/10/2011 of SNP Leader Alex Salmond and Deputy Leader Nicola Sturgeon on their way to the 77th Scottish National Party annual conference being held at the Eden Court Theatre in Inverness. Sturgeon is expected to resign as Scottish First Minister, according to the BBC. Issue date: Wednesday February 15, 2023.
Nicola Sturgeon, pictured in 2011, would later express her regret that her relationship with Alex Salmond was not mended. (Alamy)

Salmond complained that the process was unfair and launched a judicial review in the courts, which ruled that the Scottish government's investigation was "tainted with apparent bias" by the investigating officer's prior contact with the complainant.

Salmond received more than £500,000 in damages, and the case would ultimately lead to a parliamentary inquiry - but his troubles were not over.

In January 2019, he was charged with a litany of sexual offences against nine women. He denied all the charges, claiming some were "deliberate fabrications for a political purpose".

The jury returned not guilty verdicts on 12 charges and returned a not proven verdict on a charge of sexual assault with intent to rape.

Salmond would go on to accuse senior figures in government of a plot to jail him, which Sturgeon described as "absurd" in a hearing of a specially convened Holyrood inquiry.

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Speaking in a BBC documentary, Salmond And Sturgeon: A Troubled Union, which was broadcast last month, Salmond said: "I don’t really do hurt feelings very much … but it’s a big regret that Nicola and I are no longer on speaking terms."

Sturgeon would go on to have her own troubles, announcing her resignation as party leader and first minister in February last year.

She was arrested, questioned by police and released without charge just a few months later in connection with an investigation into the funding and finances of the SNP. The inquiry remains ongoing and Sturgeon, who denies any wrongdoing, is still a suspect. Her husband, former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, has been charged with embezzlement.

As recently as September of this year, Salmond told ITV Border documentary, A Decade of Debate, that if he knew how the next 10 years played out, he would not have handed the reins to Sturgeon.