Politics
Alex Salmond
First Minister of Scotland 2007–2014
Born 1954 · Died 2024
Photo: The Scottish Government · OGL v1.0
Alex Salmond led the Scottish National Party for twenty years in total and was First Minister when Scotland held its independence referendum in 2014. He worked as an oil economist before entering politics.
Key achievements
- First Minister of Scotland, 2007–2014
- Led Scotland to its 2014 independence referendum
Universities
St Andrews, Fife, Scotland
Took a joint degree in economics and medieval history in 1978.
Facts
- He joined the Scottish National Party as a student after an argument with a girlfriend who challenged him to do something about his views.
- He worked as an economist at the Royal Bank of Scotland specialising in the oil industry before becoming an MP.
- He resigned as First Minister the day after the 2014 referendum returned a No vote.
Photographs
Photographs come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences; the author and licence are shown on each image.