Alex Salmond

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alex Salmond MP
Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP)
In office
September 3, 2004 – present
Preceded by	John Swinney
Succeeded by	Incumbent
Constituency	Banff and Buchan (UK Parliament)
Born	31 December 1954 Linlithgow, Scotland
Majority	11,837 (31.8%)
Political party	Scottish National Party
Website: http://www.snp.org/people/leader

Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond, known as Alex Salmond (born on Hogmanay, December 31, 1954), is the leader (National Convenor) of the Scottish National Party (SNP). He is currently serving his second term as leader, taking over from John Swinney. He had previously been leader between 1990 and 2000.

Contents 1 Education & early career 2 Alex Salmond MP 3 Exile & return 4 External links

[edit] Education & early career

Born in Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland, Salmond was educated at Linlithgow Academy and the University of St Andrews, where he graduated with an MA in Economics and History. He was first employed as an assistant economist in the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland from 1978. In 1980, he joined the Royal Bank of Scotland, for which he worked until 1987, first as an assistant economist, then as the Oil Economist and latterly as Royal Bank Economist. While with the Royal Bank, he wrote and broadcast extensively for both domestic and international outlets. He also contributed regularly to oil and energy conferences, and in 1983 devised the “Royal Bank / BBC Oil Index” which continues monthly publication to this day.

Salmond became active in the SNP when he joined its St Andrews University Scottish Nationalist Association in 1973 whilst a student at St Andrews. A naturally inclined left-winger at the time he joined as he had considerable doubts as to whether or not the Labour Party would deliver a devolved Scottish Assembly.

He started life as a committed left-winger inside the SNP and was a leading member of the socialist republican organisation within the SNP, the 79 Group. He was, along with other 79 Group leaders, expelled from the SNP when they became a proscribed organisation within the party.

[edit] Alex Salmond MP

Salmond successfully appealed this expulsion and in 1987 he was elected Member of Parliament for Banff and Buchan, Scotland. He was at this time still viewed as being firmly on the left of the party and had become a key ally of Jim Sillars, who joined him in the British House of Commons when he won a by-election for the seat of Glasgow Govan in 1988.

When Gordon Wilson stood down as SNP leader in 1990, Salmond decided to contest the leadership. His only opponent was Margaret Ewing, whom Sillars decided to support. This caused considerable consternation amongst the SNP left as the two main left leaders were on opposing sides. It was also around this time that Salmond and Sillars drifted apart. However, Salmond won the leadership election.

His first test as leader was the United Kingdom general election 1992, with the SNP having high hopes of making a real electoral breakthrough. However the party, whilst considerably increasing its vote, failed to win a great number of seats, with Sillars losing his, causing him to famously describe the Scottish people as '90 minute patriots'. This comment caused the political friendship between Salmond and Sillars to be terminated, and Sillars became a vocal critic of Salmond's style of leadership.

The SNP managed to increase its number of MPs from four to six in the 1997 General Election, which saw the return of the first Labour Government in the United Kingdom for 18 years. This also brought prospects of a devolved Scottish parliament closer.

Salmond signed the SNP up to supporting the campaign for devolution and along with Scottish Labour leader Donald Dewar he played an active part in securing the victory for devolution in the Scotland referendum 1997. However, many hard line fundamentalists in the SNP objected to committing the party to campaigning for devolution, something they felt was way short of Scottish independence.

Several years as party leader earned him an unusually high profile for an SNP politician in the London-based media, leading to invites to take part in light entertainment programmes such as Have I Got News For You and Call My Bluff. His appearances on the latter, and more specifically the fact that he held on to one of the famous 'bluff' cards that are used as props in the show as a souvenir, proved to have an unexpected significance in the run-up to the first elections to the Scottish Parliament. To counter his frustration at having to sit in silence through an after-dinner speech by Tony Blair, he held up the card when the Prime Minister reached the point of questioning Scotland's prospects should independence happen, to which a surprised Mr. Blair reacted with some hurried ad-libbing. In 1998, he won the Spectator Award for Political strategist of the Year. Throughout his time in politics, he has maintained his interest in horse racing, writing a weekly column for The Scotsman and appearing a number of times on Channel 4’s "The Morning Line".

[edit] Exile & return

Salmond was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 1999 and was one of its highest profile members. He stood down as SNP leader in 2000 and was replaced by his preferred successor John Swinney, who defeated Alex Neil for the post.

His leadership was characterised by a moderation of his earlier left-wing views and by his firmly placing the SNP into a gradualist strategy.

In 2001 he left the Scottish Parliament to lead the SNP Group at Westminster, a role he still occupies. During the prolonged parliamentary debates in the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq he voiced strong opposition to Britain's participation. In the aftermath of the war, he lent support to the initiative of Adam Price, an MP from the SNP's sister party in Wales, Plaid Cymru, to attempt to impeach Tony Blair for his conduct over the Iraq issue. He has gone further than many anti-war politicians by claiming that Mr. Blair's statements on the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq had been consciously intended to deceive the public.

In a surprise announcement on July 15, 2004, Alex Salmond announced that he would be a candidate in the forthcoming election for the leadership of the SNP (which arose because of John Swinney's resignation from the leadership three weeks previously). Salmond had previously said that he definitely would not be a candidate in that election, even claiming in jest that if he were elected he would resign. In the postal ballot of all members he went on to receive over 75% of the votes cast, placing him well ahead of his nearest rival Roseanna Cunningham.

Although he was re-elected in the United Kingdom general election of 2005, he has made clear his intention to return to the Scottish Parliament at the Scottish parliamentary election, 2007, at which point he would take over the role of SNP group leader in that body from his deputy Nicola Sturgeon. He has confirmed his intention to stand in the Gordon constituency currently held by Liberal Democrat Nora Radcliffe [1].

[edit] External links

• Alex Salmond MP official biography at the site of the SNP
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Alex Salmond MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Alex Salmond MP
• The Public Whip - Alex Salmond MP
• BBC News - Alex Salmond profile

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by: Albert McQuarrie	Member of Parliament for Banff and Buchan 1987 – present	Incumbent
Political Offices
Preceded by: Gordon Wilson	Leader of the Scottish National Party 1990–2000	Succeeded by: John Swinney
Preceded by: John Swinney	Leader of the Scottish National Party 2004 – present	Incumbent

Leaders of the Scottish National Party
MacEwan, Gibb, Power, Young, Watson, McIntyre, Halliday, Donaldson, Wolfe, Wilson, Salmond, Swinney, Salmond