Salmond in leadership comeback bid
The former leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) has made a surprise decision to stand again for the leadership.
News of the possibility leaked out late last night when he rang a number of other leadership candidates to tell them he would be standing.
Alex Salmond’s decision to run was confirmed formally this afternoon at a press conference in Aberdeen, at the same hotel where he announced his resignation in 2000.
Mr Salmond resigned as leader as the SNP in 2000 after 10 years as national convener, saying he believed it was time to pass on the baton to someone new. His resignation shocked most commentators as he had successfully secured devolution for Scotland and there had been little indication he was bored of the job.
The following year he resigned his seat in the Scottish Parliament and successfully held his Westminster seat. Mr Salmond remained leader of the SNP Parliamentary Party in the Commons.
Following the resignation of his successor John Swinney as SNP leader, Mr Salmond was repeatedly questioned in the media about the possibility of a new leadership challenge. His reply then seem emphatic, as he said: “If nominated I’ll decline. If drafted I’ll defer. And if elected I’ll resign.”
Speaking to reporters in Aberdeen, Mr Salmond said he had not anticipated returning to the leadership, but said: “I did not anticipate that after waiting 300 years for a Scottish Parliament that it would allow itself to sink so swiftly into something approaching disrepute.”
“I did not expect that such a failing Labour Party with such mediocre leadership would have been able to cling to power in the face of such a changing political landscape.
“Labour’s free run in Scotland is over.”
Nicola Sturgeon will drop out of the race to become his deputy, and if they win, will take charge of the SNP in the Scottish Parliament.
The other two candidates, Mike Russell and Roseanna Cunningham will remain in the race.
The leadership election- for which nominations close on Friday- comes at a key time for the SNP. Support for the party has been falling, with drops in both the 2001 general election and the 2003 Scottish Parliament elections, and in June’s European elections fell to a low of 19.5 per cent.
Mr Salmond’s decision to stand was greeted with cynicism by the other parties. A Scottish Conservative Party spokesman said: “Alex Salmond obviously holds the other contenders in extremely high regard if he feels the need to enter the fray.
“But we must not forget that Alex Salmond is the man who made the SNP all it is today and he positioned them as a self proclaimed left of centre party – just like Labour and the Lib Dems.
“As we all know, it is the policies of the SNP, not the personalities that are the problem.”
Scottish Labour’s deputy leader, Cathy Jamieson was sharply critical of the late entrance, saying: “Cleary Alex Salmond agrees with me that there is no talent on the SNP benches in Holyrood. This is not only an insult to Roseanna Cunningham but also to Nicola Sturgeon who, until recently, was thought to be Salmond’s favoured choice.
“This is a man who not only takes his party for granted but has consistently taken the people of Scotland for granted. He believes he can skip from Parliament to Parliament, saying one thing, but doing another. And now he has misled them about his intention to stand. How can you trust a man who changes his mind this often?”
