Alex Salmond is the former First Minister of Scotland (2007-2014) who, after winning a landslide in the Scottish Parliamentary election of 2011, introduced the first referendum on Scottish independence in 2014.
Mr Salmond led the SNP for 20 years, taking it from the political fringes to replace the Labour Party as the dominant force in Scottish politics, and made history by becoming the first SNP Scottish First Minister in 2007.
More recently he has concentrated on broadcast journalism on television and radio while his political memoir The Dream Shall Never Die topped the Sunday Times best seller. His many awards include Scottish Politician of the Year on multiple occasions, Spectator Politician of the Year, Pink Politician of the Year, Coppieters Award for service to Scotland and Europe and the top international Green Politician.
Mr Salmond’s alma mater is the University of St Andrews and he is a visiting Professor of Economics at Strathclyde University and also holds an honorary Doctorate from the University of Glasgow.