Salmond: ‘I haven’t ruled out return to politics but I’ll never be a lord’
Alex Salmond has confirmed he has no intention of joining the House of Lords after losing his seat at last month’s General Election.
The former First Minister said the upper chamber at Westminster “goes against the very grain of democracy”.
Recently appointed Tory peer Ian Duncan last week called on Mr Salmond to join him in the Lords and overturn a decades-old SNP policy of not recommending party members for peerages.
“I’ll never go into House of Lords, I can say that for sure,” Mr Salmond told a daily newspaper.
“There’s no chance because it goes against the very grain of democracy.
“Ian Duncan has been urging me to join him just this week, but I think that’s a deflection tactic. From a failed MP to a Lord for him, the whole thing seems medieval and abusive. I haven’t ruled out returning to politics, but I’ll never be a lord.”
Mr Salmond also revealed he had turned down the chance of appearing on ITV’S reality show, I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, despite being offered “a hefty fee”.
The former SNP leader is appearing at the Edinburgh Fringe in August.
Mr Salmond said his lunchtime show in the ballroom of the Assembly Rooms in George Street will be about “politics, sport, life, showbiz”.