Last public image of Alex Salmond taken day before tragic sudden death

This is believed to be the last public image taken of Alex Salmond before his sudden death.

The 69-year-old former First Minister was speaking at an event in North Macedonia earlier today. He is said to have suffered a suspected heart attack, the Daily Record reports. The picture was taken at the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy Forum in Ohrid, North Macedonia, where Salmond attended alongside 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’.

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

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 protégé, Nicola Sturgeon.

Tonight Sturgeon, who replaced Salmond in 2014, paid tribute to "her mentor". She said: “I am shocked and sorry to learn of Alex Salmond’s death.

“Obviously, I cannot pretend that the events of the past few years which led to the breakdown of our relationship did not happen, and it would not be right for me to try. However, it remains the fact that for many years Alex was an incredibly significant figure in my life. He was my mentor, and for more than a decade we formed one of the most successful partnerships in UK politics.

“Alex modernised the SNP and led us into government for the first time, becoming Scotland’s fourth First Minister and paving the way for the 2014 referendum which took Scotland to the brink of independence. He will be remembered for all of that. My thoughts are with Moira, his wider family and his friends.”