Alex Salmond resigns from SNP amid misconduct claims

Scotland’s former first minister Alex Salmond has resigned from the Scottish National Party (SNP) amid allegations of sexual misconduct, which he has denied.

He said he wanted to avoid his suspension causing “substantial internal division”.

“Salmond has described the allegations as ‘patently ridiculous’ – and has also criticised the complaints procedure which he claims is ‘unjust’,” the BBC says.

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He recently launched a legal attack on Leslie Evans, the permanent secretary of the Scottish government, over her handling of two complaints that were received in January 2018.

The incidents “allegedly took place while he was first minister of Scotland and have since been passed to the police”, reports The Guardian.

Describing him as a “friend and mentor”, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon expressed a “huge sadness” over Salmond’s decision to resign from the party in order to clear his name.

“The hard fact remains that two complaints were received by the Scottish government that could not be ignored or swept under the carpet,” Sturgeon said.

Salmond had been a member of the SNP for 45 years and its leader for 20, notes the Herald Scotland, “taking it to its greatest electoral heights and closer than it has ever been to realising its goal of independence”.