SNP's Alex Salmond tribute 'falls far short of what was deserved'

Members paused their proceedings at the SNP party conference in Aberdeen on Sunday morning to pay tribute to party members who had died the previous year. The memorial began with a video tribute to Sir George Reid, the former presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament, and ended with an emotional tribute to Christina McKelvie MSP who died earlier this year.

In the middle of the video tribute, there was a section dedicated to Mr Salmond, despite the fact he left the party in 2018 and went on to set up his own rival pro-independence party Alba.

The tribute started with a clip of Mr Salmond saying: “I heard a rumour - I think we won the election.”

The crowd that had gathered in the main conference hall gave a smattering of applause to Mr Salmond, who died in North Macedonia on October 12 last year.

However, the tribute has been criticised by his niece Christina Hendry.

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Posting on X, she said: “Disappointed but not surprised. This falls far short of what was deserved for the SNP’s first ever first minister and the man who made it all possible.

“The SNP may attempt to airbrush Alex Salmond from their past, but he will go down in history for all he did for Scotland.”

Mr Salmond’s successor Nicola Sturgeon made an appearance at the conference less than an hour after the memorial to sign copies of her autobiography Frankly.

When asked if the short memorial to her predecessor was appropriate, Ms Sturgeon said: “I’ve not been in the hall, so I don’t know. That’s not a question for me.”

She was then asked for her thoughts on Mr Salmond. Ms Sturgeon said: “You can read my thoughts in the book I’ve just written about the positive impact he had on my life and the circumstances around what happened later.”