2. About Him Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond , known as Alex Salmond , is a Scottish politician, and the current First Minister of Scotland, heading a minority government. He is leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), Member of Parliament for the constituency of Banff and Buchan, and the Member of the Scottish Parliament for Gordon Brown.
3. His Education and Career before Politics Alex attended Linlithgow Academy and the University of St Andrews, where he graduated with an MA in Economics and History. He was first employed as an assistant economist in the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland from 1978. In 1980, he joined the Royal Bank of Scotland, for which he worked until 1987, first as an assistant economist, then as the Oil Economist and latterly as Royal Bank Economist.
4. Early Political Career Alex became active in the SNP when he joined the Federation of Student Nationalists at St Andrews University in 1973 while a student at St Andrews. As a left-winger at the time he joined, he had considerable doubts as to whether or not the Labour Party would legislate for a devolved Scottish Assembly.
5. Expulsion and re-admission Alex, as left-winger inside the SNP, was a leading member of the socialist republican organisation within it, the 79 Group. In 1981, he married Moira French McGlashan, a senior civil servant with the Scottish Office, and in 1985 he was elected as the SNP's Vice Convener for Publicity.
6. In 1987 he was elected Member of Parliament for Banff and Buchan, Scotland, and later that year became Senior Vice Convener (Deputy Leader) of the SNP. Then, Salmond served as a member of the House of Commons Energy Select Committee from 1987 to 1992. First Time At Westminister
7. First Time as SNP Leader When Gordon Wilson stood down as SNP leader in 1990, Salmond decided to contest the leadership. His only opponent was Margaret Ewing, whom Sillars decided to support. This caused considerable consternation amongst the SNP left as the two main left leaders were opposing each other in the contest. It was also around this time that Salmond and Sillars drifted apart. Salmond went on to win the leadership election by 486 votes to Ewing's 146. Salmond Ewing
8. His First Test as SNP Leader His first test as leader was the United Kingdom general election in 1992, with the SNP having high hopes of making an electoral breakthrough. However the party, whilst considerably increasing its vote, failed to win a large number of seats; Sillars lost his, causing him to describe the Scottish people as '90 minute patriots' . Soon, this comment ended the political friendship between Salmond and Sillars
9. The SNP increased its number of MPs from four to six in the 1997 General Election, which saw a landslide victory for the Labour Party. After election, Labour legislated for a devolved Scottish parliament in Edinburgh. Although still committed to a fully independent Scotland, Salmond signed the SNP up to supporting the campaign for devolution, and along with Scottish Labour leader Donald Dewar played an active part in securing the victory for devolution in the Scotland referendum of 1997. Devolution
10. Salmond was one of the few British politicians to oppose the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999. He was opposed to the conflict because it was not authorised by a United Nations Security Council resolution, which was a controversial subject at the time. Despite this, Salmond was heavily criticised in the media for describing Tony Blair's decision to intervene militarily as an " unpardonable folly .” Kosovo
11. Several years as party leader earned Salmond an unusually high profile for an SNP politician in the London-based media. In 1998, Salmond won the Spectator Award for Political strategist of the Year . High Media Profile
12. Although he was re-elected in the United Kingdom general election of 2005, after defeating his nearest rival Roseanna Cunningham, he made clear his intention to return to the Scottish Parliament at the Scottish parliamentary election, 2007, at which point he would take over the role of SNP group leader in the Parliament from his deputy Nicola Sturgeon. Return as Leader
13. As a result, Salmond was forced to form a minority government on a "policy by policy" basis. He was duly elected as the Scottish Parliament's nominee for First Minister on 16 May 2007, and was sworn in on 17 May. First Minister
14. Prior to becoming First Minister Alex Salmond had shown support for billionaire Donald Trump to build his 'personal golfing paradise' on Menie Links in the north-east coast of Scotland . Criticism of the project has been raised relating to effects on the environment, local wildlife and the construction of housing. Controversy
15. Controversy In June, Salmond threw a dinner party at the First Minister's official residence, Bute House and was accused of using the event to gain support for his administration from high-profile individuals. The total cost to the tax-payer amounted to nearly £1,500. Guests included businessman Brian Souter, who has been associated with some degree of controversy.
