Salmond steps down as First Minister of Scotland

Scottish Equality Charity The Equality Network thanks Alex Salmond for his help advancing LGBTI rights in Scotland.

Following the news that Scotland had voted against becoming an independent nation, Alex Salmond MP has announced he is stepping down as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP).

In his statement, he said: “I am immensely proud of the campaign which Yes Scotland fought and of the 1.6 million voters who rallied to that cause by backing an independent Scotland.

“I am also proud of the 85 per cent turnout in the referendum and the remarkable response of all of the people of Scotland who participated in this great constitutional debate and the manner in which they conducted themselves.

“We now have the opportunity to hold Westminster’s feet to the fire on the ‘Vow’ that they have made to devolve further meaningful power to Scotland. This places Scotland in a very strong position.

“I spoke to the Prime Minister today and, although he reiterated his intention to proceed as he has outlined, he would not commit to a second reading vote by March 27 on a Scotland Bill.

“That was a clear promise laid out by Gordon Brown during the campaign. The Prime Minister says such a vote would be meaningless. I suspect he cannot guarantee the support of his party.

“But today the point is this. The real guardians of progress are not the politicians at Westminster, or even at Holyrood, but 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.

“I believe that in this new exciting situation, redolent with possibility, Party, Parliament and country would benefit from new leadership.

“Therefore I have told the National Secretary of the SNP that I will not accept nomination to be a candidate for leader at the Annual Conference in Perth on November 13 to 15.

“After the membership ballot I will stand down as First Minister to allow the new leader to be elected by due parliamentary process.

“Until then I will continue to serve as First Minister. After that I will continue to offer to serve as Member of the Scottish Parliament for Aberdeenshire East.

“It has been the privilege of my life to serve Scotland as First Minister. But as I said often during the referendum campaign this is not about me or the SNP. It is much more important than that.

“The position is this. We lost the referendum vote but can still carry the political initiative. More importantly Scotland can still emerge as the real winner.”

The Equality Network, Scotland’s national lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) equality charity, reacted quickly to the breaking news of the double resignation.

Tom French, Policy Coordinator for the Equality Network, said: “While the Equality Network is neutral on party politics, we want to say a huge heartfelt thank you to Alex Salmond for significantly advancing LGBTI rights in Scotland during his time as First Minister. Scotland is now a leader on LGBTI equality, and while more needs to be done, Alex Salmond should be incredibly proud of leading a government that has spoken out for LGBTI human rights, put in place some of the best hate crime legislation in Europe, and delivered one of the most progressive equal marriage laws in the world.”