'Giant of a man': Former first minister Alex Salmond remembered as 'dear friend' at funeral

ITV News Scotland Reporter Louise Scott reports from Strichen, where Alex Salmond's funeral has taken place

Former first minister Alex Salmond has been remembered at his funeral as a "dear friend" and "outstanding" political leader who took Scotland "so close to his dream of independence".

Tributes were paid to the 69-year-old at a funeral service on Tuesday, following his sudden death in Macedonia earlier this month.

The former SNP leader, who later went on to set up the Alba Party, had been speaking at a conference in the country when he suffered a heart attack.

Speaking at the funeral in Strichen, Aberdeenshire - where Salmond lived - acting Alba leader Kenny MacAskill paid tribute to the man who served as the first minister of Scotland between 2007 and 2014.

MacAskill, who was justice secretary in Salmond's government, hailed him as "a giant of a man, the leader of our country, the leader of our movement", before describing him as "an inspiration, a political genius, an orator, debater and communicator without parallel".

He said Salmond was "the outstanding political figure in Scotland not just of his generation but for generations past and likely for generations to come".

MacAskill added: "The legacy he bequeathed is all around. From roads and bridges to rights, such as free prescriptions and no tuition fees."

Salmond's niece, Christina Hendry, told the service that in the period since his death, "we have felt the grief of a nation, and beyond".

Speaking at the service at Strichen Parish Church, which was attended only by family and close friends, she added: "For everyone in this room we have felt the loss differently.

"Uncle Alex was an important person to many, but to us, he was a husband, a brother, an uncle, a colleague and a dear friend."

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Salmond took the SNP from a party of opposition into government in Scotland with a narrow victory over Labour in the 2007 Holyrood election.

After his SNP won an unprecedented overall majority in the Scottish Parliament in 2011, then prime minister David Cameron agreed to its demands for an independence referendum.

While Scots voted to stay in the UK in the 2014 vote, MacAskill remembered Salmond as "a man who through his lifetime's efforts restored pride in our nation and took us so close to his dream of independence".

Speaking about Salmond, who is survived by his wife Moira, he added: "Politics wasn't a career for him even if he excelled in its arts. He was committed to Scotland and independence, spurning overtures to join other parties.

"But he rejected them all."

He said the former first minister "had a dream of what Scotland could be, and a strategy to achieve it", as he recalled him "building a party which then took office, and which so nearly won the referendum".

He recalled his time in office after the SNP first won the 2007 election, saying while Salmond led a team of ministers with no previous experience in government, his "vision and deft handling" had ensured that his government was "recognised even by opponents as credible, capable and competent".

MacAskill went on to say that under Salmond the SNP had enjoyed "unprecedented electoral success in 2011" with its Holyrood majority "something unlikely ever to be repeated".

While "a very public figure", MacAskill said Salmond had been "fiercely protective of his private life and Moira and the family", and was a "cherished and loving husband, brother, uncle", as well as a "friend to many".

Several political figures were among the mourners at his funeral service, including former Commons speaker John Bercow and Alba Party chairwoman Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh.

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Former SNP MPs Jim Sillars and Joanna Cherry also attended as did close friend SNP MSP Fergus Ewing, along with his sister Annabelle Ewing - also an SNP MSP - and Salmond's former chief of staff, Geoff Aberdein.

The minister conducting the funeral said it is an "incredibly difficult day for the family".

Speaking ahead of the service, the Rev Dr Ian McEwan said: "I am a longstanding friend of Alex's siblings, they are a very tight-knit family and over the decades I got to know Alex at family gatherings like birthdays.

"I conducted his niece's wedding and took his dad's funeral.

"These are desperately sad circumstances and anyone who has been through grief will understand that this is an incredibly difficult day for the family.

"There is palpable shock over Alex's passing and folk can well imagine the distress and sorrow within the family.

"He was the life and soul of the party and played a leading role in his family, and the privacy of the funeral is to give them space to grieve and say farewell to a husband, a brother and an uncle whom they loved dearly."

After the funeral, piper Fergus Mutch - who previously worked for Salmond - led a procession to the cemetery at Strichen for a private service.

A public memorial service to remember the former first minister will be held at a later date.

First Minster John Swinney will lead tributes to Salmond at a motion of condolence in Holyrood on Wednesday.

The Scottish Cabinet, which met on Tuesday morning, "reflected on [his] sudden death".

A Scottish government spokesperson said: "The First Minister and Cabinet recorded their sympathies to Mr Salmond's wife Moira and their wider family."

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