Alex Salmond was the undisputed figurehead of the independence movement for decades.
He was the instantly recognisable, colourful, controversial, and complicated face of a movement that Salmond dragged from the fringes to the forefront of political discourse in the Scotland we know today.
Although Salmond has been on the sidelines of the show in recent times, he has become a thorn in the side of the SNP, agitating for a more urgent push towards a second referendum.
He used his pro-independence Alba party as a vehicle to protest and push his predecessors over his insistence that their strategy was sluggish and incompetent.
Ever the optimist, Salmond truly believed Alba would gain some electoral success at the Holyrood elections in 2026.
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He was adamant it would be his “big come back”; the ultimate revenge to the former colleagues and friends who had cut him out completely during his trials and tribulations.
The polls, though, told a different tale. It was going to be an almighty mountain to climb. Was it classic Salmond spin? Probably.
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The challenge to the wider nationalist movement is to find a charismatic leader of equivalent quality to Alex Salmond to take it to the next level.
The polling guru Professor Sir John Curtice says that person or personality is not immediately in the frame. Very few would disagree.
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Nicola Sturgeon is out of the frame, Humza Yousaf scurried out of office after an almighty gaff with his power-sharing partners in the Green Party and John Swinney is from the decades-old Salmond era.
There is stalemate on the future direction of Scottish independence. The road looks very uncertain and with the departure of Alex Salmond, the stage is looking for its new star. However, it is unlikely the movement will ever see the likes of him again.
