Alex Salmond

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alex Salmond

Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond (born December 31, 1954 in Linlithgow , West Lothian , Scotland ) is a Scottish politician (formerly SNP ). From 2007 to 2014 he was First Minister (Prime Minister) of his home country. After 55% of voters voted against independence in the referendum on Scotland's independence in September 2014 , he resigned from the office of Prime Minister and from the chairmanship of the SNP. On August 29, 2018, he also announced that he was leaving the SNP because of criminal proceedings initiated against him.

Private life and professional career

Salmond grew up as the second of four children in a civil servant family with a broad political spectrum. After attending the local Linlithgow Academy , he studied economics and history at Saint Andrews University .

In 1978 he joined the British Government as an economist in the Agriculture and Fisheries Department of the Scottish Office . Two years later he moved to the Royal Bank of Scotland , where he also worked as an economist for seven years.

In 1981 he married Moira McGlashan, his former supervisor at the Scottish Office. Salmond was then 26, his wife 43 years old. The couple have no children and completely shield their private lives from the public. It lives in a converted mill in Strokes in the county of Aberdeenshire .

Salmond was visiting professor at Strathclyde University .

Since November 2017 he has hosted his own program, The Alex Salmond Show on the Russian state broadcaster Russia Today (RT). The Times and other media outlets reacted in horror when it became clear that Alex Salmond would be doing a show on RT. In an editorial, The Times wrote : “Salmond's commitment to propaganda for a hostile foreign autocracy does indeed show a lack of judgment, self-respect and shame. This decision is an insult to the victims of a murderous kleptocracy. "

Political activity

Early Political Years

Salmond became politically active when he joined the Federation of Student Nationalists at Saint Andrews University in 1971 . He began his political activities as a staunch supporter of the left wing of the Scottish National Party (SNP) and was a senior member of Group 79 , a socialist-republican organization within the party. Together with the other leading figures in the group, he was expelled from the party in 1982 after they had continued the group outside of the party after it was dissolved by the party leadership. However, a month later, Salmond was resumed.

In 1985 Salmond was elected deputy board member for public relations at the SNP. Between 1987 and 2010 he was a member of the constituency of Banff and Buchan in the British House of Commons after replacing the Conservative incumbent .

In 1987 he became vice chairman of his party.

First term as party chairman

In 1990 he was elected chairman of the SNP. Here he prevailed with a clear majority against a candidate who was also assigned to the left wing. The parliamentary elections that followed in 1992 resulted in a significant increase in votes, which, due to the majority vote, was not reflected in the number of seats won.

Despite still striving for a fully independent Scotland, Salmond, along with the leaders of the Scottish Labor Party and the Scottish Liberal Democrats, supported the ultimately successful campaign for the establishment of a Scottish regional parliament. So he contradicted the voices of many hardliners in his own party, who fixated solely on complete independence.

Due to internal party criticism and disputes with leading party members, he resigned as party chairman in 2000 and was replaced by John Swinney. Salmond left the Scottish Parliament and became chairman of the SNP group in the British House of Commons. There he appeared as a staunch opponent of the Iraq war. In 1999 he was one of the few British politicians who spoke out against NATO bombing Serbia .

Second term as party chairman

On July 15, 2004, Salmond announced, contrary to previous announcements, his candidacy for party leadership. He won the election with more than 75 percent of the vote.

In the 2007 Scottish general election , Salmond won the Gordon constituency , which has been held by the Liberal Democrats since 1999. The SNP emerged just one seat ahead of Labor as the strongest party in the election.

First Minister

Salmond I cabinet

The Salmond II cabinet, 2011

On May 16, 2007, Salmond was elected First Minister by the Scottish Parliament. He led a minority government, the Salmond I cabinet , after the Liberal Democrats failed to form a coalition with the SNP. Together with the two seats of the Scottish Green Party , which supported the government, the SNP was able to support 49 out of 129 votes, 16 below the absolute majority.

Salmond is the first representative of the Scottish nationalists in the office of first minister. He reduced the size of the cabinet from nine to six members and declared that he would rule in the form of individual decisions. In order to concentrate on his function as First Minister, Salmond resigned as head of the party group in the lower house.

In the 2010 New Years Address, Alex Salmond emphasized the importance of renewable energy for Scotland. In 2009 he advocated climate change legislation at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen and highlighted Scotland's role in combating climate change.

Salmond II cabinet

As a result of the Scottish general election in 2011 , in which the SNP won an absolute majority of the seats, Salmond was able to continue his work as First Minister. The SNP won 69 out of 129 seats in the election. In May 2011 Salmond presented his second cabinet .

On September 18, 2014, a referendum was held on Scottish independence , in which the Scots spoke out against secession from the United Kingdom. Salmond, who had fought vehemently for it, admitted his defeat. One day after the referendum, on September 19, 2014, Salmond announced his resignation as Scotland's First Minister. In the closing remarks of his speech on the occasion of his resignation, he said:

“For me, as leader my time is nearly over. But for Scotland the campaign continues and the dream shall never die. "

“For me as a [political] leader, time is almost up. But for Scotland the campaign continues and the dream [of Scottish independence] may never end. "

- Alex Salmond : Speech on the occasion of the resignation on September 19, 2014

His successor in the office of Scottish Prime Minister was Nicola Sturgeon in November 2014 , she also took over the chairmanship of the SNP. Salmond announced in December 2014 that he would run for the UK general election in May 2015.

MP in Westminster

In the general election on May 7, 2015 , Salmond was elected to the new House of Commons in the Scottish constituency of Gordon with 47.7% of the vote . His main opponent Christine Jardine of the Liberal Democrats came in at 32.7%. In Westminster, Salmond is to become the SNP spokesman for foreign policy. Regarding the success of the SNP in the election, Salmond said that the "Scottish lion roared across the country this morning". ( "The Scottish lion has roared this morning across the country" ). In the early general election in 2017, Salmond was defeated by the Conservative Colin Clark and subsequently left the British House of Commons.

Allegations of sexual misconduct

After the Daily Record newspaper reported in August 2018 that Salmond was alleged to have sexually assaulted two women, Salmond denied the allegation, claiming that the investigation into him was "unfair and unjust". First Minister Nicola Sturgeon firmly denied this. The allegations raised are such that they “cannot simply be ignored”. Thereupon Salmond announced his exit from the SNP on August 29, 2018 - after a total of 45 years of party membership, 20 of which as party chairman. He is innocent and has the intention to become active again in the SNP as soon as the allegations against him have been dispelled.

On January 24, 2019, a case against Salmond began in the Sheriff Court in Edinburgh . The indictment accused him of 13 sexual offenses , including twice tried rape , as well as disruption of public order ( English breach of the peace ) before. He denied all allegations again and was spared pre-trial detention in return for bail . On March 23, 2020, he was acquitted on all 12 counts.

literature

Web links

Commons : Alex Salmond  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ NZZ : Smarter Patriot with Scots Charm ( Memento from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), May 4, 2007.
  2. ↑ Auslan Cramb: Moira Salmond: A reluctant First Wife . Telegraph. May 10, 2007. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  3. ↑ From Prime Minister to Propaganda Spokesperson. In: sueddeutsche.de. November 21, 2017. Retrieved May 9, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Putin's Propaganda , The Times , November 11, 2017
  5. ↑ Russell Deacon, Sandry, Alan: Devolution in the United Kingdom . Edinburgh University Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-7486-2416-4 , p. 94.
  6. ^ Scramble to lead SNP as Salmond quits , The Telegraph . July 18, 2000. Retrieved February 3, 2012. 
  7. ^ Salmond back with threat to impeach PM , The Independent , September 25, 2004.
  8. ^ Daily record: Demand For Alex Salmond Apology Over Kosovo , February 19, 2008.
  9. ^ Salmond launches leadership bid , BBC News, July 15, 2004
  10. ^ Salmond named as new SNP leader , BBC News, September 3, 2004
  11. ^ Lib Dems rule out SNP coalition , BBC News, May 7, 2007
  12. ^ Cooperation agreement on the Scottish Green Party website ( Memento from May 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  13. ^ Salmond elected as first minister , BBC News, May 16, 2007.
  14. ^ Robertson elected SNP's Westminster leader , The Guardian , May 23, 2007
  15. ↑ Scotland's top politicians outline aims for 2010
  16. ↑ Alex Salmond: Our small country can play a big role in climate change fight
  17. ↑ scotland.gov.uk; May 19, 2011: New Scottish Cabinet ; orf.at: Situation two weeks after the election
  18. ↑ orf.at January 14, 2012: Scotland wants independence - bitter dispute with London
  19. ↑ Alex Salmond Quits After Scotland Votes Non. Sky News , September 19, 2014, accessed September 19, 2014 .
  20. ↑ Scottish referendum: Salmond to quit after Scots vote No. BBC News, September 19, 2014, accessed September 19, 2014 . "The dream shall never die" is a well-known quote from Edward Kennedy , see: 1980 Democratic National Convention Address. americanrhetoric.com, August 12, 1980, accessed September 27, 2014 (English, Kennedy address at the Democratic Party Conference in New York City 1980).
  21. ↑ Alex Salmond wants to do politics in London. derstandard.at , December 8, 2014, accessed December 8, 2014 .
  22. ^ Gordon Parliamentary constituency. BBC News, accessed May 13, 2015 .
  23. ↑ Alex Salmond appointed SNP's foreign affairs spokesman. BBC News, May 13, 2015, accessed May 13, 2015 .
  24. ^ Election 2015: Sturgeon's anti-austerity message for Westminster. BBC News, May 8, 2015, accessed May 13, 2015 .
  25. ↑ Results of the general election in 2015 and 2017
  26. ↑ Sturgeon: Alex Salmond sexual harassment claims 'could not be ignored'. BBC News, August 24, 2018, accessed August 30, 2018 .
  27. ↑ Alex Salmond resigns from SNP: Statement in full. August 29, 2018, accessed August 30, 2018 .
  28. ^ Ex-Scottish first minister Alex Salmond charged with attempted rape. BBC News, January 24, 2019, accessed January 24, 2019 .
  29. ↑ Alex Salmond cleared of all sexual assault charges. March 23, 2020, accessed on March 23, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Salmond, Alex
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Salmond, Alexander Elliot Anderson
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish politician (SNP), member of the House of Commons
DATE OF BIRTH December 31, 1954
PLACE OF BIRTH Linlithgow , Scotland