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Alex Salmond reveals he voted for the SNP in the General Election
7 July 2024, 10:26
Alex Salmond speaks to Matthew Wright
Former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond has told LBC he voted for the SNP party in the recent general election.
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Mr Salmond, who ran the SNP from 1990-2000 and 2004-2014, now leads the Alba party, which he founded in February 2021
Speaking to Matthew Wright on Sunday morning, he said: “I voted SNP, because we had no Alba candidate here in the northeast of Scotland and I'm one of the few people in Scotland who can say I voted for a successful SNP candidate because in this seat, because of the shenanigans of the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Douglas Ross, who stabbed one of his colleagues in the back, metaphorically, as he was on life support at a Glasgow Hospital.
"Many people here decided that's not the sort of person they wanted representing the northeast of Scotland.
"So, this was the SNP's gain of the election and I and Alba supporters contributed to it, so I'm glad to give the SNP their saving grace.”
On the topic of Scotland's independence, he went on to say: "Independence as a concept, a vision, a dream if you like, is alive and kicking, it's supported by half of the population.“
But in the election this week, the SNP were dealt a devastating blow.
First Minister John Swinney described the result, which was the SNP's worst since 2010, as "very, very difficult and damaging".
He said: "I have to accept we failed to convince people of the urgency of independence.
“Therefore, we need to take the time to consider and reflect how we deliver our commitment to independence, which is absolute.”
When Nicola Sturgeon led the party, four-and-a-half years ago the SNP won more than 80 per cent of Scotland's 59 seats.
However in the general election last Thursday, the SNP missed out on dozens of Westminster seats to Labour, winning only nine seats in the House of Commons, compared with 37 for Labour and five each for the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.
Labour, which had won just one seat in Scotland in 2019, is now Scotland's largest Westminster party.
