FORMER First Minister Alex Salmond died this afternoon of a suspected heart attack while attending a conference in North Macedonia.
The ex-SNP leader, 69 — who led Scotland to the brink of independence — apparently collapsed during lunch.
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Former First Minister Alex Salmond has died aged 69Credit: Andrew Barr
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The flags are flying at half mast outside the Scottish ParliamentCredit: Dave Johnston
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Alex Salmond embraces Nicola Sturgeon in April 2014Credit: Reuters
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Alex Salmond presents his party’s shadow cabinet in May 1999Credit: PA:Press Association
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Salmond and Sturgeon hold copies of the White Paper on independenceCredit: PA:Press Association
Guests said he had been complaining of leg pain but later told how he felt better and gave a speech.
Sources told how the tragedy happened at around 3.30pm local time at the plush Inex Olgica hotel.
The former SNP supremo was having lunch in the venue’s restaurant shortly after he’d given a speech on indy to delegates from around the world.
He had been attending a summit for young political leaders. A witness claimed Mr Salmond fell ill after leaving the dining room.
The guest said: “He was on the balcony of the hotel when he collapsed shortly after sitting down.”
They said an ambulance was called and paramedics tried without success to resuscitate him.
Other guests told how Mr Salmond had been complaining about leg pain the evening before.
One, who spotted him hobbling on Friday, recalled: “He thought it might be the flight or that he hadn’t slept well. He asked hotel reception to get him a masseuse.”
Mr Salmond had travelled to North Macedonia with Alba Party chair Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, a former SNP MP.
They were attending the 15th annual School of Young Leaders, led by North Macedonia’s former president Gjorge Ivanov.
Former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond seen in video posted hours before his death
A guest at the international bash said Mr Salmond was at a gala dinner at nearby Biljana’s Springs Restaurant when he complained of pain in his right leg.
The source said: “He explained he felt pain in his leg during the day but it was better so he went to the dinner that evening.
“On Saturday morning he went to a spa and later attended a session at the conference.
“He was due to meet up with the country’s ex-president at 4pm but, sadly, he never made it there.”
In his final speech, Mr Salmond had claimed the Yes side’s defeat at the 2014 independence referendum had been the catalyst for a “miserable decade in the UK”.
After his death, a condolence speech was made at the conference by Miguel Angel Moratinos, the UN Under-Secretary General and High Representative of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations.
Local press said the exact cause of his death would be confirmed by a post-mortem examination.
On Friday, Mr Salmond appeared on a panel discussion alongside Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, former president of Malta, and representatives from Israel, Bosnia, and North Macedonia at the Forum for Cultural Diplomacy event.
In snaps posted by Mr Ivanov’s office at 11.30am, Mr Salmond was seen smiling while wearing a black suit with a light blue shirt and a navy blue tie.
Next to him is Ms Ahmed-Sheikh, who also took part in panel discussions.
The Facebook post said the former First Minister spoke about “leadership, cultural bridges and legal frameworks for post-conflict reconciliation” during his speech to the conference. The event, titled: Young Leaders for International Cooperation, Cultural Understanding and Peace, was due to end tomorrow.
At 2.02pm today Mr Salmond posted for the last time on Twitter/X.
He attacked Sir Keir Starmer’s Council of Nations and Regions a day after the PM chatted with Mr Swinney at the new group’s first meeting in Edinburgh.
Mr Salmond wrote: “If John or his advisers had read Gordon Brown’s original proposal for this Council, then they would have realised that this wasn’t some ad hoc reset meeting, but part of a plan to pull any independence teeth from devolution.
‘HE NEVER GAVE UP’
BY CHRIS MUSSON
ALEX Salmond was still going at 110mph, right until the very end.
I last saw him a month ago when he came into the Scottish Sun offices for an interview to mark a decade since the independence referendum.
He was utterly bullish, as ever. Determined, incisive, funny, pugnacious.He was as sharp as a tack. A man still following every last twist and turn of politics, in Scotland and beyond.
When I started my weekly column for the Scottish Sun earlier this year, I told readers I wanted to hear from them.
Salmond was the first person to email me after my debut piece, which had been about the past decade of “madness”, as I put it, and how it had been unhealthy for Scotland “I don’t fully agree with your analysis,” Salmond told me. I’ll take that, I thought.
But that interview we did just over a month ago was a walk in the park for Salmond.
Nothing got past him, and he was prepared for every question I put to him. He even had a plug ready for his 2026 Holyrood election strategy.
The interview was on camera and as a final question, I asked if he’d retire if failed to win a seat in two years’ time.
His response was first-class – not quite giving a straight answer, but colourful enough to draw a line under the issue.
“Oh, I intend to lead Alba into the Scottish Parliament in 2026. That’s my full intention,” he said.
“And if that doesn’t work, then I’ll probably go back to grabbing the family season ticket at Tynecastle, and hope by then we’re in a vein of form.”
After he ended, he delivered a signature chortle, then held a smile for the camera until we cut.
We exchanged gossip afterwards and as I walked him to reception he quipped “I hope you got some of what you wanted, there.”
Clocking the security guard had recognised him, he made a beeline for the guy, shook his hand and said a quick hello.
After Salmond gone, I said to the security guard: “You a fan?”
“Nah – not my politics,” he said, but added: “He seems a nice chap, though.”
And that was Salmond through and through. He liked to be liked, and – in his heyday, especially – he was great at it.
I remember thinking as he left: What a pro.
I also remember thinking that he did not look well. He was struggling with his walking, and had put on a lot of weight in recent years.
But he just kept going. He still had much to prove, after a decade of enormous upheaval for him.
Salmond thrived on popularity. He was a political animal – but wounded, damaged beyond repair, I think, by the infamous allegations against him and his own, self-confessed shortcomings.
People would often ask: Why doesn’t he just retire? But, that just wasn’t him. He would have to be made to stop.
Salmond still felt he had scores to settle – with the Scottish Government, with his foes in the SNP.
He so desperately wanted to get out from under that cloud that’s hung over him in recent years. To regain that popularity he once had.
That won’t happen now, of course. The fight is over for Salmond. But say what you want about him – he never gave up.
“It is designed to diminish the status of our Parliament and the First Minister. Part of becoming independent is about thinking independently, not subserviently.”
He concluded: “John should have politely declined the meeting with the words ‘Scotland is a country not a county’.”
Thousands of Scots paid tribute to the country’s ex-leader on social media, labelling him an “absolute titan” and a “political giant”.
One said: “While on constitutional positioning I didn’t agree, but would have wanted on my side for everything else. We will never see your like again.”
Another posted online: “Agree or disagree with his politics, it’s impossible to ignore his status as one of the most influential politicians in Scottish history.”
Mr Salmond is survived by his wife Moira, 87, whom he married in 1981. A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are supporting the family of a British national who has died in North Macedonia and are in touch with the local authorities.”
The SNP suspended campaigning ahead of by-elections as a mark of respect for their former boss — who left the party in 2018 over allegations of sexual harassment before later being cleared in a high-profile trial in 2020.
Less than a month ago, Mr Salmond told The Scottish Sun of his reflections on the 10th anniversary of the independence referendum.
He resigned as First Minister in the wake of the bitter 2014 defeat.
Asked if he expected to see another indy vote, he replied: “Well, whether it’s a referendum or not, I think Scotland will be independent in my lifetime.”
Mr Salmond had been planning on taking on his old party at the 2026 Holyrood election and was defiant about his chances of a return to the Scottish Parliament.
He recently blasted the BBC over a documentary about his time in charge of the SNP.
And he offered support to two OAPs trying to sue the UK and Scottish governments over means-testing of Winter Fuel Payments.
Tonight flags at the Scottish Parliament were flying at half-mast in tribute to the former First Minister. Devoted supporter David Hutcheon, from Edinburgh, was the first to arrive at Holyrood to lay flowers after the news broke of Mr Salmond’s sudden death.
He left a note on the tribute which said: “Thank you big Eck, from all of Scotland.”
The 52-year-old, who is originally from Dundee, said: “I am gutted.
“I had been an SNP supporter since I was 18. But when Alex Salmond moved to the Alba Party, I joined them.
“I am truly lost for words. It’s like I’ve lost part of my childhood. I’ve always been a supporter of independence and I have watched Alex’s journey all the way, so I am gutted that he’s gone.
“I have spoken to other people since the news broke and we can’t believe it. We are all totally, totally gutted by it.”
Mr Hutcheon added: “I don’t think the case for independence has died. Alex Salmond’s death could make it go either way.
“We are just getting the news of this right now and it will take time for it to sink in. He was like the governor for Scots.”
ALEX SALMOND’S CAREER IN POLITICS
1954: Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond is born on December 31, 1954, in Linlithgow.
1973: Joins the SNP as a teenager. He attends the University of St Andrews where he studies economics and medieval history.
1978: Joins the civil service as an assistant economist at the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland – part of the now defunct Scottish Office.
1980: Moves to work at the Royal Bank of Scotland as an economist.
1982: Expelled from the SNP after being a key part of the 79 Group – a faction within the SNP pushing for the party to take a more active left-wing stance. His expulsion lasts just one month.
1987: Elected as MP for the Banff and Buchan as one of three SNP MPs returned to Westminster. Months later becomes SNP deputy leader.
1990: Succeeds Gordon Wilson as SNP leader.
1997: Under his leadership, the SNP increases its MPs from four to six at the general election. He backs the campaign for a devolved Scottish Parliament.
1999: Becomes MSP for Banff and Buchan.
2000: Makes shock announcement that he is standing down as SNP leader. He is succeeded by John Swinney.
2001: Resigns his seat in the Scottish Parliament to focus on leading the SNP at Westminster.
2004: Takes over for his second stint as SNP leader after John Swinney stands down. He goes on to hold the job for the next decade.
2007: Elected as First Minister of Scotland after leading the SNP to victory at the Scottish Parliament election in 2007.
2012: Secures agreement with Prime Minister David Cameron for a Scottish independence referendum, to be held in 2014.
2014: Spearheads the independence campaign, raising support to 45 per cent – falling short of his goal to split from the UK. Following the referendum, he resigns as First Minister.
2015: Returns to Westminster as MP for Gordon. He holds the job for two years before losing his seat at the snap election called by Theresa May.
2018: Quits the SNP after allegations of sexual misconduct are made against him. He has a major falling out with Nicola Sturgeon in the aftermath, including how a probe into him is handled by the Scottish Government.
2020: At the High Court in Edinburgh, he is found not guilty on 12 sexual assault charges against him, while another is found not proven.
2021: Founds new independence party Alba. Kenny MacAskill and Neale Hanvey defect to Alba, giving the party their first elected parliamentarians.
2023: Ash Regan defects to Alba, giving the party its first MSP at Holyrood
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Source: HIS Education