History Man: Alex Salmond's death poses new questions for the independence movement

That the death of Alex Salmond left a nation in shock is unarguable. That the former first minister leaves a prominent gap in our body politic is largely undisputed.

But in these first days after his death, it is as yet unclear how Salmond’s loss will shape our politics, and, particularly, what it will mean for the constitutional cause he spent so much of his life working to advance.

A towering intellect and fierce wit who could debate rings around most opponents, Salmond was a distinctive presence on both the Scottish and UK stages. It scarcely mattered that the Linlithgow native and Alba Party leader held no public office at the time of his death in North Macedonia, to where he had travelled to speak at the Academy for Cultural Diplomacy Forum. He remained a prominent voice on the national stage, and, despite his detractors, could draw a crowd. A decade after leaving Bute House, Salmond’s words carried considerable weight and his final social media post, which stated that “Scotland is a country not a county”, has been liked and shared thousands of times.

Twenty-five years into devolution, 10 years on from the indyref, and after a general election that shook up the status quo, Scotland had already reached a moment of reflection on where we are and where we’re going. Salmond’s death has intensified this. Indeed, it feels like a moment of consequence in itself. “Everybody remembers where they were when they heard the news,” says his former speechwriter, Andy Collier. “He was unique, particularly in Scottish politics. When he spoke, people listened.

“Nobody expected this to happen and everyone’s feeling it.”

The differences, let them be put in the background for the greater good of the cause

Alongside support for renewable energy, a determination to grow the economy, and a dedication to the common weal, Salmond’s message of independence for Scotland was clear and unwavering. But the enmity that had arisen between him and his former party, the SNP, as well as the Scottish Greens with whom he’d once worked across the benches of the Scottish Parliament, had affected the articulation of that argument.

Though a broad-church including groups as diverse as Women for Independence, the Scottish Socialist Party and the Radical Independence Campaign, the pre-indyref Yes movement was led by the SNP and seconded by the Greens, even under the auspices of the Yes Scotland banner. The advent of Alba in 2021 introduced a new player in the battle for votes and control of the narrative. Despite a common constitutional goal and repeated entreaties from Alba for collaborative working, neither the Scottish Greens nor the SNP were willing to form any such alliance, down partly to the animosities between Salmond and the SNP hierarchy, and policy differences like Alba’s opposition to gender recognition reforms supported by both the SNP and Greens.

Former health secretary Alex Neil, Salmond’s close friend, says it is time for a reassessment. “One of the lessons we should all learn is we should care less about personality politics and concentrate on the stuff that matters. You don’t need to like each other to respect each other and work together,” he tells Holyrood.

“The time is well overdue when we should be working together. The differences, let them be put in the background for the greater good of the cause. I think we could still win independence within a reasonable period of time if we had the right leadership, the right policies, the right strategy.”

The response to Salmond’s death has been tricky for the SNP. Salmond was in the process of undertaking fresh legal action against the Scottish Government over the botched investigation into harassment allegations against him. Those allegations, which emerged while Nicola Sturgeon was first minister, led to a criminal trial in which Salmond was cleared of sexual assault charges. A public inquiry found serious errors in the government’s handling of the complaints, and he was awarded a payout of more than £500,000. Alongside former permanent secretary Leslie Evans, Sturgeon was named in the latest case, accused of misfeasance. Meanwhile, a separate Police Scotland investigation into the evidence given to the Holyrood inquiry by a senior civil servant is ongoing. 

Aside from this, Salmond was a vocal critic of the administrations succeeding his, both in terms of strategy and delivery, with similar critiques made of what he saw as the SNP’s mishandling of the independence drive. 

This complex, fraught background perhaps explains why it was Scottish Labour, not the SNP, which first issued a tribute to Salmond. “Alex was a central figure in politics for over three decades and his contribution to the Scottish political landscape cannot be overstated,” said a statement on behalf of Anas Sarwar. “It is right that we recognise Alex’s service to our country as first minister and to the communities he represented as both MP and MSP.” 

Later that day, John Swinney’s condolences were extended to Salmond’s wife Moira and his wider family. “Alex worked tirelessly and fought fearlessly for the country that he loved and for her independence,” Swinney said. “He took the Scottish National Party from the fringes of Scottish politics into government and led Scotland so close to becoming an independent country. 

People are asking themselves profoundly serious questions

“There will be much more opportunity to reflect in the coming days, but today all of our thoughts are with Alex’s family and his many friends right across the political spectrum.”

Inside the SNP, there is much discussion of how to respond to the situation at a political level. Some suggest that there could now be a closer relationship with Alba, while others aim to see ex-members who defected to Alba now rejoin the party. Still others speculate that Alba, without its figurehead and founder, will lack the momentum to carry on. Alba’s conference, which was slated for 15 November, has been postponed and it is unclear who will emerge as its next leader.

“I wouldn’t like to speculate one way or the other,” says Neil on the outlook for Alba, and on steps to restore unity to the Yes movement, he thinks that while “one or two folks will realise they need to do that, in the upper echelons of the SNP they will take the view that Alba isn’t a problem any longer.” 

Earlier this year veteran MP Pete Wishart, now the SNP’s depute Westminster leader, said there is “simply no way the SNP could ever give any concession to the unelectable Alba Party”. But in August, SNP deputy leader Keith Brown said that his party would seek to form a cross-party convention of elected politicians who support not necessarily independence, but “Scotland’s right to choose” on the matter – a move welcomed by Alba general secretary Chris McEleny.

Whether the convention happens or not – there have been no further details from the SNP – McEleny believes Salmond’s death has prompted “a national conversation” on the constitution. “People are asking themselves profoundly serious questions because they are now reflecting on Alex’s life and achievements, and a lot of that centred on 2014,” he told The National, predicting higher polling for independence is ahead as a result.

Salmond’s repatriation was paid for by businessman Tom Hunter, not the Scottish or UK governments – an option the Salmond family said was faster. Writing in the Sunday Times, columnist Gillian Bowditch said Keir Starmer should have ordered a speedy return. “Whatever he thought of Salmond the man, the dignity of the office required nothing less”, she suggested, adding that there was a “moral imperative” for action by Swinney too. “If the fight to retain the union means anything,” Bowditch argued, “it means the Westminster government stepping up when Scotland needs it to”.

It’s all totemic, it’s all symbolic

Collier also argues that the handling of the repatriation has a political dimension. “It was a mistake not to bring him back,” he says. A visibly emotional Alba chair, former MP Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, who had been with Salmond in Ohrid, draped his coffin with a Saltire before it was taken on board the chartered aircraft and, in Scotland, a lone piper played as a convoy from pro-independence group Yes Bikers formed a cavalcade to accompany the party, which included widowed Moira Salmond and others, from Aberdeen Airport. “It’s all totemic, it’s all symbolic,” Collier says. “It’s important symbolism. What happens now is symbolism, to a point.”

Salmond’s funeral, we now know, will be held at Strichen Parish Church in Aberdeenshire on 29 October. Collier remembers a man who had a keen instinct for reading people and could “be who you needed him to be”.

“There were kind of two Alex Salmonds: there was that side which was the cheeky chappy with the football scarf who would have a joke, and there was the other side which was the first minister and politician, and that was a job he took really, really seriously. He was genuinely interested in people, he was curious, he had an amazing ability to connect with people, and he was quite ruthless. It was almost a switch from one to the other. He would be hard on people, but he would never ask anyone to do anything he wouldn’t do himself.”

Salmond, says Neil, had “no comparison” in Scottish politics. “He changed the course of history for Scotland and indeed the UK. He put independence not just on the agenda but at the top of the agenda and even though it’s taken, I think, a big swing backwards in the past few months, it’s there and everybody knows it’s there. It’s the elephant in every room where politics is discussed in Scotland.

“When people talk about the history of Scotland, they tend to talk about the big names: William Wallace, Robert the Bruce. In the next thousand years it’ll be William Wallace, Robert the Bruce and Alex Salmond, and there’ll be a further one at some point who will be the person who will take us back to independence. But that will be built on Alex’s legacy.”