Alex Salmond launches rival party seeking Scottish independence

The return of the former first minister will split the independence movement over constitutional tactics and domestic issues.

Alex Salmond in Strichen, Scotland, on Saturday. Picture: Getty Images

Former Scotland first minister Alex Salmond is returning to frontline politics by leading a new party that will split the Scottish independence movement over constitutional tactics and domestic issues.

The move sets Mr Salmond on a collision course with Nicola Sturgeon, his successor as the leader of the Scottish National Party and the Scottish government, and he raised the prospect of the pair facing off in a televised election debate.

The new group, called the Alba Party, will aim to produce a “super-majority” for independence at the Holyrood election in May. Alba is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland.

In a sign of divisions to come, Mr Salmond, who negotiated the terms of the 2014 independence referendum with former British prime minister David Cameron, said a legally agreed ballot was not the only way to break up Britain.

“It’s by no means the only route, the route has to be democratic, but there’s a range of pressures and things you can establish in terms of bringing the independence case forward,” he said.

“As I said, the Section 30 referendum [the section of the Scotland Act which allows a referendum to be held], the plebiscite idea, international legal action and peaceful street demonstrations - these are all tactics. But the tactics have to be founded on the legitimacy of the parliament.

“The parliament has to have, I believe, not a bare majority for independence within it, but a super-majority that changes the balance, fundamentally, into Scotland’s favour.”

In a two-hour online press conference, Mr Salmond was asked repeatedly if he would apologise for his behaviour when he was first minister. In 2019 he won a judicial review against the Scottish government after the Court of Session ruled that an internal investigation of sexual harassment complaints by two female civil servants was unlawful, unfair and tainted by apparent bias. Separately, he was cleared last year of 13 charges of sexual assault, including a charge of attempted rape, following a two-week trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.

“We’ve seen two court cases, two judges, one jury and I’m prepared to accept all of these. So it is time to move on,” Salmond, 66, said on Friday.

He also suggested that his party would be critical of the SNP’s controversial Hate Crime Bill, which opponents say limits free speech and women’s rights.

Mr Salmond, who will stand as a candidate in the northeast of Scotland, said he would be “making representations” to the broadcasting authorities in an effort to have him included in televised election debates. If he is successful, this would see him go head to head with Ms Sturgeon.

The SNP said the party launch was an exercise in vanity. Opposition parties called Salmond “discredited” and questioned his suitability for office.

The new party will stand only on the regional lists, the proportional representation vote where members of the Scottish parliament are elected alongside first-past-the-post constituencies. The SNP is expected to win the vast majority of constituencies but far fewer list candidates.

The Times