James Forsyth James Forsyth

Interview: Alex Salmond’s game plan for the Commons

Scotland’s former first minister on the allure of the Queen and Prince Charles – and the defects of Cameron and Miliband

issue 13 December 2014

Alex Salmond is losing his voice but that’s not going to stop him from talking — I doubt that anything would, or could. I meet him in the Savoy, after The Spectator’s Parliamentarian of the Year Awards (he won top gong) and he orders a hot toddy — setting out the ingredients just in case the Savoy Hotel is too English to know how to make one.

No one talking to Scotland’s former first minister today would have any idea that his political dream was clearly rejected by Scottish voters just three months ago. He is relishing the SNP surge and the likelihood of his party holding the balance of power at Westminster next year, which he gleefully describes as ‘the favourite’s bet just now’. This prospect has persuaded him to stand for the House of Commons again.

Salmond is in fact more confident and relaxed than almost any politician I have ever interviewed.

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