Alex Salmond changed the political landscape of Scotland forever. And while his legacy will be contested by supporters and opponents for years to come, one thing that can’t be argued is his massive influence over Scottish life in the past 35 years.
The SNP’s first two terms in power at Holyrood delivered real policy successes, proving to Scots that devolution could make a difference. The scrapping of tuition fees for university students, the abolition of tolls on road bridges and an end to prescription charges were all his policies.
The sustainability of such an approach in an era of dire public finances is now open to debate. Critics have argued they amounted to subsidies for voters who could afford to pay. But these reforms were bold, ambitious and genuinely helped countless ordinary families across the country.
The SNP has won so many elections in Scotland over the last 15 years it would be easy to forget how marginalised the party once was before Salmond. When he first became leader of the Nationalists in 1990 it was a fringe movement capable only of winning the occasional by-election. There was limited electoral success in the early-to-mid 70s but the era of Thatcherism was a long and barren time for the party.
The political world Salmond stepped into as leader was firmly focused on Westminster. There was an active campaign led by Labour for a Scottish parliament – which many Nationalists viewed with suspicion. By the time of Salmond’s sudden death aged 69 on Saturday, this landscape had changed utterly.
The devolved parliament at Holyrood, not Westminster, is now the focus of Scottish political life. Labour, for so long the dominant force north of the Border, is only just rebuilding itself as a credible force after being repeatedly thrashed at multiple elections by the Nationalists.
The question of independence is now the central one of Scottish politics. Despite the SNP’s struggles in recent years, opinion polls regularly put support at between 45 and 50 per cent of Scots. Alex Salmond did not achieve all of these changes on his own. But he was, without question, the central figure.
At the time of the 2014 referendum, Salmond was a figure recognised around the world – not just in Scotland. His campaign to end the Union ended in failure but it convinced huge numbers of Scots to question the long-term benefits of the status quo. He will go down in history as a significant figure who changed the political landscape of the country he loved.
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