Alex Salmond, former First Minister of Scotland, has been accused of abusing his power while in office by his successor, Humza Yousaf. The accusations were made in a new BBC documentary which also raised concerns about Mr Salmond’s temper during his time as the head of government. Mr Salmond was cleared of allegations of sexual impropriety in the High Court in 2020, but concerns about his conduct and behaviour have continued to be raised.
Responding to the accusations made in the documentary, Mr Salmond dismissed them as “smears” and stated that he is resting on the verdict of his trial. He has previously accused members of the government led by his protégé, Nicola Sturgeon, of conspiring against him – something which she has dismissed as “absurd”. Mr Salmond successfully took civil legal action against Ms Sturgeon’s administration for its handling of an internal investigation, which was ruled to be “tainted with apparent bias”, and was awarded £500,000.
Mr Yousaf, who replaced Ms Sturgeon as First Minister, told the BBC documentary that the first minister is ordinarily the most powerful person in the room and that Mr Salmond had abused his power on too many occasions. In response to the accusations made against him, Mr Salmond referred to Mr Yousaf as “Humza the brief” and called him the “new self-appointed authority on personal conduct and morality”.
Throughout the documentary, concerns were raised about Mr Salmond’s behaviour while in office and his temper, with former colleagues claiming that they had been brought to tears by his outbursts. Despite these accusations, Mr Salmond stated that he is comfortable with his contribution as First Minister and believes that he advanced Scotland’s interests and the cause of independence.
The documentary, which was made by Firecrest Films, has been criticised by Mr Salmond for focusing on the “pyscho drama” between him and Ms Sturgeon and neglecting other issues, such as police investigations into SNP finances and gender recognition reforms
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