Nicola Sturgeon intervened ‘many times’ to stop Alex Salmond

Nicola Sturgeon has claimed she intervened “many times” when her former boss Alex Salmond treated people poorly.

The pair worked together for several years, including as first minister and deputy between 2007 and 2014.

Sturgeon went on the succeed Salmond to become first minister in 2014, after the independence referendum, but the pair remained close until falling out over harassment claims made against Salmond.

The botched handling of those complaints by the Scottish Government led to it admitting in 2019 that it had acted unlawfully. It was ordered to pay over £500,000 to Salmond for his legal fees after he launched a judicial review.

Salmond, who passed away suddenly late last year, had been taking further legal action against the government for misfeasance.

Sturgeon previously told the Scottish Parliament inquiry into the government’s handling of harassment complaints that she did not become aware of any allegations against him until 2018.

However she added that “I know just from what he told me that his behaviour was not always appropriate”.

Now in a new interview with the Financial Times, Sturgeon said: “He would be really rough on people. Many times I intervened to stop him.”

And on the women who brought complaints against the former first minister, she added: “I’ve seen the impact not just of what they believe happened to them initially but also the impact of the way he then behaved. It’s been pretty hard.”

Salmond was acquitted of all sexual assault charges made against him in 2020. During the trial, his defence argued that his behaviour was sometimes “inappropriate” but not criminal.