Nicola Sturgeon has revealed she chose not to attend the Scottish Parliament today while party leaders paid tribute to Alex Salmond.
The former first minister was buried in his home village of Strichen yesterday after dying suddenly aged 69 earlier this month while attending a conference in North Macedonia.
Tributes were paid to Salmond at the Scottish Parliament today from the leaders of each party.
Sturgeon served as Salmond’s deputy leader for a decade until he resigned as first minister in the wake of the 2014 independence referendum.
But the pair fell-out in 2018 after he was first accused of historic instances of sexual harassment by two civil servants.
Salmond denied wrongdoing and later resigned his membership of the SNP. Sturgeon, who was then first minister, declined to intervene in the Scottish Government complaints process.
Sturgeon said today: “I have experienced a range of emotions since Alex Salmond’s death. I feel the loss of someone who for many years was an incredibly important person in my life. At the same time, I cannot pretend that the events of the past few years did not happen.
“At a very human level, I have been wrestling with how to pay appropriate respect to an individual who had a big impact on me – and on the life of the country – but in a way that feels right, and which does not distract from the grief of Alex’ family, who are the people who matter most right now.
“Weighing all this up, I have concluded that it is best for me to remember Alex privately. For the purposes of today that will mean watching the motion of condolence online rather than being physically present in the chamber.
“I appreciate that others in my position might make different decisions, but sometimes doing what feels most right is the best any of us can do.”
Speaking at the Scottish Parliament today, John Swinney recognised “the substantial and significant contribution (Salmond) made over many decades to public life”.
He said: “Alex Salmond left an indelible mark on Scotland and on Scottish and United Kingdom politics and public life.”
The First Minister recalled meeting Mr Salmond for the first time in 1981 as one of a handful of young Scottish nationalists in Edinburgh – a group who were trying to “stir things up for our cause”.
He served for seven years as Salmond’s finance secretary, hailing the former first minister as “a man o’ independent mind” – a reference to a Burns poem.
Swinney acknowledged their relationship “changed” over the past six years.
He said Salmond came “so close” to winning Scottish independence and urged current supporters of the cause to “make that case and win that future”.
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