Key dates in Alex Salmond's career

Credit: PA

  • December 31 1954: Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond is born in Linlithgow, West Lothian - the same town that was the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots

  • 1973: Joins the SNP while a student at St Andrews University

  • June 11 1987: Is elected to Westminster in the general election, winning the seat of Banff and Buchan from the Conservatives.

  • March 15 1988: Less than a year after being elected, Mr Salmond makes headlines when he disrupted then chancellor Nigel Lawson's budget speech in the House of Commons. The incident resulted in him being suspended from the House for a week.

19/08/1997: Neil Smith (left, Chairman of Scotland Forward), Alex Salmond (SNP leader), Donald Dewar (Scottish Secretary) and Menzies Campbell in Edinburgh today (Tuesday) for the launch of the YES campaign devolution countdown. Credit: PA

  • September 22 1990: Becomes leader of the SNP for the first time.

  • September 11 1997: A referendum to establish the new Scottish Parliament is held, with Mr Salmond and his SNP campaigning alongside Labour and the Liberal Democrats for a Yes vote.

  • March 29 1999: Mr Salmond becomes the first leading UK politician to speak out against about air strikes against Serbia, describing them as "an act of dubious legality, but above all one of unpardonable folly".

  • May 6 1999: As well as being the MP for Banff and Buchan, Mr Salmond is elected as MSP for the constituency in the first elections to the devolved Scottish Parliament. He is leader of the opposition, with Labour joining forces with the Liberal Democrats in a coalition government.

06/05/1999: Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond celebrates victory in Macduff, after being elected as a Member of the Scottish Parliament for Banff and Buchan. Credit: PA

  • July 17 2000 : Mr Salmond announces he is to stands down as SNP leader to concentrate on Westminster. He is succeeded in the post by John Swinney.

  • May 14 2001: Mr Salmond leaves Holyrood, stepping down as an MSP.

  • June 2004: After Mr Swinney resigns as SNP leader Mr Salmond says he has no intention of returning to the post, stating: "If nominated I'll decline. If drafted I'll defer. And if elected I'll resign."

  • July 15 2004: Mr Salmond announces he will stand for leader, telling reporters: "I changed my mind." At the same time Nicola Sturgeon, who had been a candidate for the party leadership, announces she is no longer contesting that job and wants to be Mr Salmond's deputy.

22/09/2004: Leader of the Scottish National Party Alex Salmond (left) with his deputy Nicola Sturgeon on a footbridge over the river Ness prior to the opening of the party conference in Inverness, Scotland. Credit: PA

  • September 3 2004: Mr Salmond is elected as SNP leader for the second time with a landslide victory. Ms Sturgeon is also voted in as his deputy, marking the start of a political partnership that will last a decade.

  • May 3 2007: Mr Salmond is elected to Holyrood for a second time, winning the Gordon constituency. His SNP becomes the largest party in the Scottish Parliament by the narrowest of margins, winning 47 seats to Labour's 46.

  • May 16 2007: Mr Salmond is elected as Scotland's first SNP First Minister, leading a minority administration at Holyrood.

  • May 5 2011: Mr Salmond leads the SNP to a landslide victory in the Scottish Parliament elections, with the party winning 69 of the 129 seats. With elections to Holyrood determined by proportional representation it is the first time any party has had an overall majority there.

16/05/2007: Scottish National party leader Alex Salmond and wife Moira celebrate as he departs the Scottish Parliament after he is voted First Minister in Edinburgh. Credit: PA

  • January 25 2012: Mr Salmond formally launches the Scottish Government's consultation on plans to hold an independence referendum in a statement to Holyrood, promising the run-up to the ballot will be the "most exciting in Scotland's modern history".

  • October 15 2012: After talks between the UK and Scottish governments, Mr Salmond and Prime Minister David Cameron both sign the Edinburgh Agreement, paving the way for a referendum on independence.

  • November 26 2013: Mr Salmond launches the Scottish Government's 670-page long white paper on independence, hailing it as "a mission statement and a prospectus for the kind of country we should be".

15/10/2012: Prime Minister David Cameron shakes hands with Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond at St Andrews House in Edinburgh, where he is expected to sign a deal granting Holyrood the power to hold a historic referendum on independence. Credit: PA

  • September 18 2014: Voters across Scotland go to the polls in the referendum, where they are asked "Should Scotland be an independent country?". In the historic ballot 45% vote Yes, with the majority 55% opting to stay in the UK.

  • September 19 2014: Mr Salmond calls a press conference at his official residences, Bute House in Edinburgh, where he announces his intention to step down as SNP leader and First Minister.

  • November 14: Mr Salmond steps down as SNP leader at the party's conference in Perth, ahead of finishing his time as First Minister next Wednesday. He will be succeeded in both posts by Ms Sturgeon.

  • ends 140001 NOV 14

20/09/2014: First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond outside his home in Strichen, Scotland, after announcing yesterday that he will be standing down as First Minister following the Yes campaign defeat in the Scottish independence referendum. Credit: PA
13/11/2014: Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond during his last FMQs at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. Credit: PA