Alex Salmond

First Minister of Scotland

Alex Salmond is the First Minister of Scotland, leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), former Member of Parliament for Banff and Buchan, and Member of Scottish Parliament for Gordon. He joined the Royal Bank of Scotland in 1980, after graduating from the University of St Andrews, and worked there for seven years, serving first as an Assistant Economist, then as the Oil Economist and latterly as Royal Bank Economist.

Salmond began his career in politics whilst at University, joining the Federation of Student Nationalists and the SNP. He was suspended from the SNP briefly in the early 1980s, before returning as their Vice Convener for Publicity in 1985. He became MP for Banff and Buchan in 1987, and was elected to the leadership of the SNP in 1990, defeating Margaret Ewing by a wide margin in the leadership contest. He resigned from the leadership in 2000 to lead the SNP Group in Westminster, but made a surprise return to the position in 2004, easily beating his rivals to the post. He stood down as MP for Banff and Buchan at the 2010 general election to focus on his role as First Minister.

Salmond was sworn in as the fourth First Minister of Scotland in 2007, after the SNP won the Scottish Parliament Election. He was the recipient of the Spectator awards for Political Strategist of the Year in 1998 and Parliamentarian of the Year in 2007.