Alex Salmond received the vindication he sought in life when an astonishing array of public figures including former Prime Minister Gordon Brown attended a memorial to honour him yesterday.
And in stark contrast First Minister John Swinney was booed and called a traitor has he walked into the service at St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh where 24 months earlier the late Queen lay in rest.
Nicola Sturgeon, with whom Salmond had a bitter feud, was not present at the event yet in a surprising move some of the most senior SNP figures pointedly accepted invitations including Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes and Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop.
Just what the first female ex FM, who didn’t get an invite, would have thought was unclear.
She was 50 miles away in Glasgow attending the funeral of comedian Janey Godley in Glasgow. Yet yet more evidence, as if any was needed, of the deep divisions that continue to run through the party.
High profile figures spanning politics, business and the entertainment industry joined Salmond’s widow Moira as his family to paid tribute to a “political giant” in a ceremony which included performances by The Proclaimers and Dougie MacLean.
And for many, the message sent by the star-studded guest list was clear – if they believed even a fraction of the sexual harassment allegations over which Salmond was cleared in court in 2020 – they simply would not have been there.
As we filed into the historic cathedral past pews of MPs, MSPs and Lords, one senior politician summed up the sentiment.
He said: “You either believe Alex Salmond was a nasty piece of work or that he was in fact the victim of the plot orchestrated by Nicola Sturgeon’s supporters to destroy him and the fact everyone is here suggests they believe the later.”
I was one of a small number of journalists invited to attend the emotional ceremony which included a barnstorming tribute from former SNP MSP Duncan Hamilton KC in which he said one of Salmond’s only big mistake was resigning in 2014 after losing the independence referendum.
The accomplished orator, once regarded as a natural successor to the the former Banaff and Buchan MP, said: “Alex Salmond will forever be a pivotal figure in Scotland’s story. He changed a nation.
“He inspired a country and he enshrined the ultimate sovereignty of the people of Scotland to choose their own constitutional future.
“History will certainly remember him as a man of talent, charisma and substance. But also as a political leader of courage, vision and intelligence. He dared to dream. And so should we.”
The St Andrew’s Day service included tributes from political allies and opponents including Salmond’s close friend and Tory MP David Davis, SNP MSP Fergus Ewing and the man who has known him since they were at school together, former SNP and Alba MP Kenny MacAskill.
Labour leader Anas Sarwar, Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay, Holyrood Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone, actor Elaine C Smith and businessman Jim McColl were among the other guests.
Hundreds of people carrying saltires and pictures of Salmond lined the Royal Mile and sang Flower of Scotland as the ceremony got underway.
Moira, Salmond’s wife of more than 40 years, dressed in black, arrived at the service with Rev Dr George Whyte who used a line from Shakespeare’s Hamlet as a nod to her husband’s detractors in his opening address.
He told mourners: “He called people to a cause in which he believed and for which he would endure the slings and the arrows.”
But it would be from within his own party, a party that Salmond took from political obscurity in Scotland to total dominance that the most wounding arrows were eventually fired.
In his own tribute former SNP Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny Macaskill vowed to continue the fight to seek justice for his name and pledged to deliver his dream of independence as an uncomfortable Swinney looked on.
The acting Alba leader told the congregation his friend had been a “giant of man, an inspiration, a political genius and most of all a man who had the cause of independence burned into his heart and seared in his soul”.
getting the loudest cheer of any speaker when he finished his speech with the words: “Your dream shall be delivered”.
Scottish rock duo the Proclaimers were applauded for their performance of pro-independence anthem Cap in Hand while Dougie MacLean sang his classic Caledonia.
Before their performance Craig and Charlie Reid said: “We’re going to do this for Alex, with love and respect and eternal gratitude for everything you did for our country.”
In a the most heartfelt speech Salmond’s niece Christina Hendry said her uncle was a “political giant” but also a “dearly loved husband, brother and uncle”. And she too hinted at the division of the last few years, saying his death was also a loss of integrity in Scottish politics.
Christina said while he had been “the top man in Scotland” he always made time for his family.
She said he phoned her brother Mark on his birthday – the day after the 2014 referendum – to apologise for not posting a card “as he’d been busy”, before telling them he would “resigning in 10 minutes”.
She told the congregation: “We always felt loved no matter how far away he was or the time that passed before we saw him next.
“Uncle Alex passing means a great loss for many. A loss of Scotland’s voice on the international stage. A loss of integrity in Scottish politics. And a great loss to Scotland’s independence movement. As a family it is likely a loss we will never get over.
“The world will be a much quieter place without Uncle Alex, for Moira, for the wider family and for Scotland.”
Salmond was buried after a private funeral service on October 29 in the village of Strichen in Aberdeenshire, where he had lived for decades.
The former SNP and Alba leader, who led the country between 2007 and 2014, died after suffering a heart attack while attending an international conference in North Macedonia.
Salmond stood down as SNP leader and First Minister after the 2014 referendum in which Scots voted to stay part of the UK.
However his relentless campaign which saw support for independence rise from around 25per cent to 45per cent left the SNP is complete control at Holyrood and Scotland’s Westminster contingent of MPs for almost a decade
In the wake of his bitter fallout with Sturgeon Salmond went on to form his new pro-independence Alba Party.