A giant of Scottish politics, Salmond was the driving force behind the nation’s 2014 independence referendum

Former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has passed away aged 69, according to reports from British media outlets and officials. Salmond organized Scotland’s 2014 independence referendum, hosted a show on RT, and broke with the Scottish National Party (SNP) to form his own pro-independence faction in 2021.

Salmond died on Saturday after giving a speech in North Macedonia, Sky News reported. A slew of statements from British politicians confirmed his death, with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar describing his passing as “a shock to all who knew him in Scotland, across the UK, and beyond.” 

At the time of writing, it is still unclear how Salmond died. According to the Sunday Times, he collapsed while delivering his speech.

A lifelong proponent of Scottish independence, Salmond led the SNP between 1990 and 2000 and again between 2004 and 2014. Serving as Scotland’s first minister between 2007 and 2014, Salmond secured permission from Prime Minister David Cameron to hold an independence referendum, but his ‘Yes Scotland’ campaign was defeated by 55.3% to 44.7%, leading Salmond to resign from office.

The West Lothian native returned to politics the following year, defeating Liberal Democrat candidate Malcolm Bruce to become MP for the constituency of Gordon in 2015. As the SNP’s foreign affairs spokesman in Westminster, he continued to advocate for the developing world, and against what he called Western “military adventurism.” 

After losing his seat to Conservative candidate Colin Clark in 2017, Salmond turned to broadcasting. ‘The Alex Salmond Show’ was aired on RT from November 2017 until February 2022, when it was suspended in the wake of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. Salmond then began broadcasting ‘Scotland Speaks with Alex Salmond’ on multiple social media platforms, until it was picked up by Turkish broadcaster TRT earlier this year.

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Salmond resigned from the SNP in 2018, amid sexual assault allegations that he insisted were “constructed” by his replacement atop the party, Nicola Sturgeon. 

Salmond was cleared of all charges in 2020, and founded the pro-independence Alba party the following year, its name a reference to the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. Alba failed to win any seats in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, or in local elections in 2023.

In a post on X, Scotland’s current first minister and SNP leader, Humza Yousaf, paid tribute to a man he once accused of sexual assault and abuse of office.

“Alex and I obviously had our differences in the last few years, but there’s no doubt about the enormous contribution he made to Scottish and UK politics,” Yousaf wrote, adding that Salmond had helped “transform the SNP into the dominant political force it is today.”

Salmond is survived by his wife, Moira. The couple had no children.