Alex Salmond in centre with blue shirt, next to Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh in tartan dress (Image: Academy for Cultural Diplomacy)

'Last picture of Alex Salmond' in Macedonia taken day before his death

The 69-year-old was speaking at the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy Forum in North Macedonia on Friday morning alongside Alba deputy leader Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh.

by · Daily Record

This is the photo believed to be the last public image of Scotland's former first minister, Alex Salmond. The 69-year-old was speaking at the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy Forum in Ohrid, North Macedonia, on a panel on Friday morning alongside his Alba deputy leader Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh.

The pair stand in the centre of the picture, Ahmed-Sheikh in a tartan dress next to Salmond in a blue shirt and tie, along with other dignitaries. The event on Friday morning was titled ‘Young Leaders for International Cooperation, Cultural Understanding & Peace’.

Salmond is thought to have been at the event again today when he collapsed and died, suffering a suspected heart attack. The news was confirmed to the Record by a spokesman for the Alba Party which Salmond set up in the wake of his exit from the SNP.

Alex Salmond dies age 69

He is considered one of the most transformative political figures in Scottish political history. His first spell as SNP leader resulted in him taking his party from the fringes to the cusp of power at Holyrood, before resigning in 2000.

He was elected for a second time as SNP leader in 2004 before taking his party into Government for the first time three years later. A landslide Holyrood election followed in 2011 before securing an independence referendum.

Independence was rejected and he quit as leader in 2014. His latter years in politics were marked by a breakdown in relations between him and his protege, Nicola Sturgeon.

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