Scottish first survey seems, that UK could be hand over the under control regionYY [/caption]Alex Salmondy left the Scottish nationalists in turmoil on Friday after announcing he is to resign as First Minister and SNP leader only hours after their decisive defeat in the independence referendum.
His decision made it more likely that another referendum could be held within a decade, because whoever succeeds him will not be bound by his “personal view” that Thursday’s vote would decide the issue for around 20 years.
Mr Salmond said his party, the Edinburgh parliament and Scotland would “benefit from new leadership” after voters rejected by a margin of 55 per cent to 45 per cent his plan to leave the UK.
Widespread tributes were paid to him, but Willie Rennie, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, said: “People will entirely understand this decision. He has exhausted his political purpose.”
A leadership contest will be held, with the clear favourite, Nicola Sturgeon, stating that she could think of “no greater privilege” than succeeding him as leader when he formally steps down at the SNP autumn conference in November. The nationalist-dominated Scottish Parliament will vote for a new first minister shortly afterwards.
Although she has previously repeated his assertion the referendum would decide the issue for a “generation”, it was not clear last night whether she shares his definition of this as a period lasting between 18 and 20 years.
Mr Salmond’s decision surprised observers, coming only 10 hours after he delivered a bullish concession speech, prompting speculation that he had been pushed out.
He made his announcement at a delayed press conference at his Bute House official residence in the afternoon, from which he excluded several pro-Union newspapers, including The Telegraph.
It had originally been scheduled to take place at 10am but did not start until 4pm amid growing rumours that he was weighing up whether to continue.
Mr Salmond said the referendum, which had a record 84.6 per cent turnout, had resulted in the “energised activism of tens of thousands of people who I predict will refuse meekly to go back into the political shadows”.
“For me right now, therefore there is a decision as to who is best placed to lead this process forward politically,” he told those journalists he had allowed to attend. “I believe that in this new exciting situation, redolent with possibility, party, parliament and country would benefit from new leadership.”
Mr Salmond said he has told the SNP’s national secretary he would not accept nomination to be a candidate for leader at its annual conference in Perth between November 13 and 15.
He said he would continue as First Minister until then and would carry on serving as MSP for Aberdeenshire East. His announcement marked an about-turn on his stance before the referendum, when he insisted he would not resign in the event of a No vote.
Mr Salmond, 59, has dominated the SNP for nearly a quarter of a century in two stints as leader. The SNP’s 2007 Holyrood election win as a minority government and its 2011 landslide majority win were widely attributed to his popularity.
Source: Telegraph