Salmond to speak at University of Buckingham

The university’s Centre for UN Studies has invited the leader of Alba, a pro-independence party since 2021, to speak at the Vinson Centre on Sept 5 at 6pm.

Mr Salmond said: ‘Our core belief is independence for our country. Not as an aspiration for the future but something to be delivered with urgency. The vision for an Independent Scotland that we seek is one that works cooperatively with the international community. One that prioritises peace and humanitarian work, not foreign conquest and invasion.

‘The levels of poverty in Scotland are a political scandal and parliament must now take bold and radical action to ensure that the scourge of inequality is no longer accepted in our great nation.’

A graduate of the University of St Andrews, he worked as an economist in the Scottish Office, and later, the Royal Bank of Scotland. He was elected to the House of Commons in 1987, serving as MP for Banff and Buchan from 1987 to 2010.

In 1990, he became leader of the SNP and led the party through the first election to the Scottish Parliament in 1999, where the SNP emerged as the second largest party, with Mr Salmond as the Leader of the Opposition. He was elected as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Banff and Buchan in that year's election.

He resigned as leader in 2000 and stood down as an MSP the following year, when he was appointed leader of the SNP's Westminster group. Salmond was re-elected as leader of the SNP in the 2004 leadership contest, after running on a joint ticket with Nicola Sturgeon. She led the SNP at Holyrood until Salmond was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2007 for the Gordon (later Aberdeenshire East).

In the 2007 election The SNP finished ahead of the governing Labour Mr Salmond became First Minister, serving from 2007 to 2014. Mr Salmond used this mandate to hold a referendum, which led to the signing of the Edinburgh Agreement and the 2014 referendum.

The Yes Scotland campaign, which his deputy Nicola Sturgeon led, was defeated in the referendum. As a result, Salmond resigned and was succeeded by Ms Sturgeon, whose time in offlice he now describes as leaving a difficult legacy of "pretty absurd and silly policies like self-identification, closing fishing areas, bottle schemes, [and] abolishing some trials by jury".