Alex Salmond changed the face of Scottish politics forever - Vladimir McTavish

Alex Salmond unfurls a saltire behind Prime Minister David Cameron to celebrate Andy Murray's Wimbledon triumph in 2013Alex Salmond unfurls a saltire behind Prime Minister David Cameron to celebrate Andy Murray's Wimbledon triumph in 2013
Alex Salmond unfurls a saltire behind Prime Minister David Cameron to celebrate Andy Murray's Wimbledon triumph in 2013
Over the past seven days, many thousands of words have been written about Alex Salmond since the shock of his untimely death this time last week.

Like him or loath him - and he definitely did divide opinion - it was impossible to ignore him. He completely redefined the political landscape of Scotland.

Indeed, he will go down in history as one of the most significant Scots of the past three-hundred years, given that he came close to actually altering the course of that history itself.

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It was more than apt that the crowd at Hampden Park gave one minute’s applause in his memory before the kick-off to Scotland v Portugal on Tuesday.

Unlike many political figures, who like to be seen to be supporting their national sporting teams, he was a genuine fan. Indeed, he was last photographed at the National Stadium last month in the crowd for the game against Poland.

Back in June, he travelled over to the Euros in Germany and could be seen mingling with fans in the street.

Over the years, Eck was a familiar face in the crowd at Murrayfield and Hampden, but the most iconic image of him at a sports event was undoubtedly at the men’s singles final at Wimbledon in 2013.

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He was sat behind David Cameron in the royal box and as the Prime Minister stood to applaud Andy Murray’s victory, he was immediately upstaged by Salmond leaping to his feet to unfurl a giant saltire. That cheeky photo-bombing moment encapsulated the playful side of the former FM.

When he passed away last weekend, I was surprised to discover that he was only 69 years old, because he seemed to have been on the political stage for ever.

He truly was “larger than life” in every sense. He brought colour and theatre to a Scottish political scene which had hitherto been dull and grey.

Up until his time in office as First Minister, the Scottish Parliament was seen by most of us as a glorified town council. Many of us would struggle to come up with a list of names of the previous holders of the job.

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In 2005, when the G8 summit was held at Gleneagles, Jack McConnell stood on the tarmac at Edinburgh Airport to welcome George W Bush and other world leaders to Scotland.

When he shook them by the hand, they all bore the same facial expression as if they were thinking “Who the Hell is this guy ?” And, to be honest, most people watching on the TV news were asking themselves exactly the same question. But we all knew who Alex was.

When the Scottish Parliament reconvened in 1999, nobody could have predicted that within fifteen years we would have a referendum on our country’s future.

Over the course of his career, Salmond took the idea of independence from the lunatic fringe to the political mainstream.

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Alex Salmond was the ultimate “marmite” politician, and his public reputation was obviously tarnished in later years, but this country will seem a little bit emptier now that the has gone.

He could be bombastic, pugnacious, arrogant and charming at the same time. But he was never boring and he was certainly never dull.

When will we see his like again? Not for a very long time.

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