Humza Yousaf accuses Alex Salmond of abusing power in office

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Humza Yousaf accuses Alex Salmond of abusing power in office

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Alex Salmond has accused senior members of Nicola Sturgeon’s government of conspiring against him

Former First Minister Humza Yousaf has accused his predecessor Alex Salmond of abusing his power while in office.

Mr Salmond, who was

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in the High Court in 2020, said he had a “sleepy cuddle” with one complainer in his official residence.

In a new BBC documentary, concerns are also raised about Mr Salmond’s temper, with one former colleague saying she was brought to tears.

Mr Salmond has accused high-ranking members of the government led by his protégé, Nicola Sturgeon, of conspiring against him – something she dismissed as “absurd”.

He has defended his behaviour in office and said he rests on the verdicts of the court cases into his conduct.

Harassment complaints

Mr Salmond led the government between 2007 and 2014, with Ms Sturgeon succeeding him.

Their relationship broke down following complaints about his conduct, both to Scottish government officials and to the police.

Mr Salmond successfully took civil legal action against Ms Sturgeon’s administration for its handling of an internal investigation – ruled to be “tainted with apparent bias” – and

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At the subsequent ********* trial, Mr Salmond admitted to having a “sleepy cuddle” with one complainer and what his defence lawyer called “a bit of how’s your father” with another.

Both members of staff were considerably younger than the ex-first minister.

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Humza Yousaf has criticised the former first minister’s behaviour

Mr Yousaf, who replaced Ms Sturgeon after she

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, told the BBC documentary that the first minister is ordinarily the most powerful person in the room.

“You can choose to use that power appropriately or you can choose to ****** it,” the former SNP leader said.

“And on too many occasions, given the behaviour that Alex has already admitted, there was too many instances of that ****** of power.”

He also said the civil court defeat made the government look “incompetent”.

Mr Salmond said he regretted that he no longer spoke to Ms Sturgeon.

“I don’t really do hurt feelings very much … but it’s a big regret that Nicola and I are no longer on speaking terms,” he said. “And I seriously doubt if it’s going to improve.”

The ex-SNP leader added: “Now that’s a great pity, because I did indicate that you shouldn’t say anything is forever, but that’s the way it looks and that’s just the way it’s going to be.

“We’ll just have to let the past take care of itself.”

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Nicola Sturgeon says Alex Salmond was once a “very positive” influence on her

A Holyrood inquiry into the government’s handling of complaints against Mr Salmond found Ms Sturgeon had misled MSPs over a meeting with her predecessor in her home in 2018, but

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In 2021, Mr Salmond launched the Alba Party. It has been highly critical of Ms Sturgeon, Mr Yousaf and current first minister John Swinney.

Ms Sturgeon said Mr Salmond was “for a long time, a very positive force in my life”, adding: “But I think I had to learn how to be myself.”

Mr Salmond described himself as a “tough taskmaster” when he was in charge of the government.

Ms Sturgeon said her predecessor was prone to “outbursts” and that his temper “was out of control” at times.

She said while people in the SNP had “learned to put up with” it, she suggested it was not “actually always acceptable” when in government.

Former SNP MSP Linda Fabiani told the documentary: “Alec would let rip.

“The first time it happened to me I was so shocked, a little bit tearful on the way home.”

She said she did not consider it bullying.

Mr Salmond’s former adviser Geoff Aberdein said he was sacked seven times. “For some reason he’d always expect to see me the next day,” he added.

‘He didn’t really care’

Mr Aberdein also said that his former boss was “very, very ******” about

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, believing he had been “let down” by the party.

Following the election defeat, Mr Salmond launched

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Ms Sturgeon said her former mentor knew how difficult the job was, adding: “Shouldn’t he have tried a bit ******* to make sure that managing his ego wasn’t one of the problems that landed on my desk?”

Liz Lloyd, Ms Sturgeon’s ex-chief of staff, told the documentary: “It was a real sign that he didn’t really care how he was perceived any more.

“He was going to do what served him and not what served the party, not what served the country.”

Mr Salmond, who

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following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, said his successor had been “annoyed” because she had not been told about the show before it launched.

He added: “I wasn’t a member of parliament. The simplest thing to say was Alec makes his choices, I make mine, full stop.”

Salmond and Sturgeon – A Troubled Union will be available on

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from Tuesday, as well as being broadcast on the BBC Scotland channel on Tuesday and Wednesday.

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