Salmond family pay tribute to ‘devoted and loving’ family man

On Monday morning, fellow former first minister, Henry McLeish, told BBC Scotland News that Salmond “broke new ground” in Scottish politics.

McLeish, who served as Labour leader of the Scottish parliament between 2000 and 2001, remembered the former SNP leader as a “formidable politician and a friend”.

McLeish, 76, succeeded Donald Dewar in as first minister in October 2000.

While McLeish campaigned on the No side of the 2014 referendum, he said there was a “great deal of respect” between the pair.

He told Good Morning Scotland: “I knew Alex as a politician but also as a friend, not a close friend, but someone who, I think, there was a great deal of respect for and I think that was reciprocated.

“I think that today, there are too many politicians regarding each other as political enemies when at that time, quite rightly, we talked about political opponents.

“Alex was formidable in many other ways. He shaped the substance and debate of post-devolution politics, but he wasn’t everybody’s cup of tea.

“He was a tough performer, relentless in so many ways but I found, behind that exterior, was someone that I could at least get on with.”