BITTER RIVALRY

HOW IT BEGAN

1990

Nicola Sturgeon backs Alex Salmond for SNP party leadership. Two years later he encourages her to stand for Westminster.

1999

Mr Salmond appoints Ms Sturgeon to the SNP front bench when they are both elected to Holyrood. He later steps down as the party leader.

2004

Ms Sturgeon makes her move for the leadership of the party. She is nearly defeated, until Mr Salmond decides to make a comeback and he wins, with her as his deputy.

2007

The pair lead the SNP into government for the first time.

2014

In 2011, they achieve an overall majority at Holyrood. When Mr Salmond resigns after losing the referendum in 2014, Ms Sturgeon admits she has “big boots to fill” but makes clear that she will make the job her own.

2015

Mr Salmond returns to Westminster as an MP and the physical distance between the pair is matched by a sense that they are growing apart politically. Ms Sturgeon scraps one of Mr Salmond’s key policies without consulting him.

2017

Mr Salmond loses his seat and is accused of sexism for a joke at the Edinburgh Fringe. Ms Sturgeon defends him, but suggests her former boss is not always as funny as he thinks. It is speculated that Mr Salmond could be eyeing a return to Holyrood.

Jan 2018

Two female Scottish government staff members raise formal complaints about Mr Salmond, related to when he was First Minister, under a new policy drawn up in the wake of the Metoo movement.

April 2018

Mr Salmond meets with Ms Sturgeon at her home to discuss the investigation. Ms Sturgeon claims that this was the first she knew of it.

She now claims she forgot about a meeting with a representative of Mr Salmond, days earlier, which he says was set up explicitly to discuss the complaints.

Aug 2018

The investigation against Mr Salmond is reported by a tabloid newspaper and he announces that he is to take the Scottish Government to court to challenge the fairness and legality of the process.

March 2020

Mr Salmond is cleared of all charges after a trial. Following his acquittal, he alludes to a conspiracy against him and says evidence that he was unable to present in court will one day “see the light of day”.

In my opinion, there has been behaviour which is about not just pressurising the police but pressurising witnesses, collusion with witnesses

I have no doubt Nicola has broken the ministerial code

Independence must be accompanied by institutions whose leadership is strong and capable of protecting every citizen from arbitrary authority

How can complaints come in in January under a policy that was not publicised to Scottish government employees until February?