Former SNP leader and Scottish first minister Alex Salmond ‘died on the spot’ in a suspected heart attack, police have confirmed.
A speaker at the conference Mr Salmond was attending in North Macedonia when he felt unwell said that ‘time stopped’ the proponent of Scottish independence fell over at around 3.30pm on Saturday.
Mark Donfried said that Mr Salmond, 69, suddenly fell backwards ‘into the arms of one of the other speakers’.
He said: ‘All of a sudden at lunchtime he was sitting across [from me]. He collapsed, he was sitting and fell back into the arms of one of the other speakers.
‘I immediately went to the front desk to ask for an ambulance, and by the time I came back he was on the floor and they were trying CPR. The good news is he didn’t suffer. I don’t think he felt any pain.’
Mr Salmond pictured at the panel discussion in North Macedonia prior to his death
Mr Donfried said Mr Salmond was ‘in good spirits’ before he collapsed and died
The former first minister was in the ‘best of spirits’ before he collapsed during the conference, an eyewitness said
The Scottish politician was in the ‘best of spirits’ before he slumped into the arms of a fellow diner at a lunch event, an eyewitness revealed.
The former First Minister died of a suspected heart attack after collapsing at an event for speakers at the Ohrid Cultural Diplomacy Forum in Macedonia.
He had been at the conference with former MP Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, chairman of the Alba Party, who was also among the speakers.
Despite attempts to save the Alba Party founder, paramedics were unable to save Mr Salmond.
Sources told the Telegraph there was rush to inform Mr Salmond’s wife Moira, 87, of his sudden passing before the news broke.
Tributes continued to flow in for the Alba Party leader, including from Lord David Cameron, who was Prime Minister when Mr Salmond led the independence campaign to defeat in the 2014 referendum.
Mr Donfried, director of the Academy for Cultural Diplomacy, spoke of the ‘state of shock’ at the conference following Mr Salmond’s death at a lunch event for speakers on Saturday.
He said: ‘He was here the last few days, he gave excellent participation two days ago at the panel discussion.
‘He was really in the best of spirits, the best of health, and I was sitting across from him at lunch yesterday when all of a sudden he just went out and fell into the arms of a colleague of mine on the other side of the table.
‘I immediately got up and ran to call an ambulance and when I came back, he was on the floor.’
Mr Donfried added: ‘We’re all completely shocked – the entire hotel, the conference, it’s been very difficult for all of us.
‘He was a great man who we all looked up to and so we’re still all in a state of shock. Last night, we had a brief moment of reflection on his legacy.
‘There was a humility with Alex, he had an authenticity, it was amazing to see how he’d touched individuals he had only known for a few days.’
A statement of condolence is expected to be held at the Scottish Parliament when it resumes after the October recess next week.
A flood of tributes have been paid from friends, colleagues and political opponents of Mr Salmond’s after his death sent shockwaves across British politics.
The tributes were initially led by King Charles, who struck up a close friendship with Mr Salmond during his visits to Balmoral when he was First Minister. He said: ‘My wife and I are greatly saddened to hear of the sudden death of Alex Salmond. His devotion to Scotland drove his decades of public service.
Mr Salmond with the late Queen Elizabeth II at Holyrood house in Edinburgh in 2007
Alex Salmond giving a statement to the Scottish Parliament harassment committee in 2021
‘We extend our deep condolences to his family and loved ones at this time.’
Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton, who signed the so-called ‘Edinburgh Agreement’ with Mr Salmond which allowed the Scottish Government to hold a legal independence referendum in 2014, also paid tribute.
He said: ‘We disagreed about many things, but there is no doubt that Alex Salmond was a giant of Scottish and British politics.
‘Hugely passionate about the causes he championed, he was one of those rare politicians with both enormous charisma and genuine conviction, who always held the room. No matter your own point of view, you couldn’t help but stop and listen to his every word.
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‘He might have had his faults, but he was as sharp as a button with a strategic mind – I once said you had to count your fingers on the way out of a meeting with Alex. He has been taken far too young; my thoughts and prayers are with Alex’s family.’
First Minister John Swinney yesterday said Mr Salmond ‘left a fundamental footprint on Scottish politics’.
But he also acknowledged that there had been a ‘difficult’ few years for the SNP, following harassment complaints about Mr Salmond.
The former First Minister won a judicial review against the Scottish Government when its investigation into harassment complaints was described as unlawful and tainted by apparent bias by the Court of Session.
He was also acquitted of charges against him following a criminal trial.
The developments led to a major breakdown in his relationship with Nicola Sturgeon, who recently said she didn’t expect to ever again be on speaking terms with him.
Mr Swinney said: ‘Obviously, it’s been a very difficult few years, and there will be time to reflect on all of those issues in the days to come. But I think today, I think all of us can recognise the formidable contribution that Alex Salmond made.’
Mr Salmond making a speech as leader of the SNP in April 2005
In her statement, Ms Sturgeon said they formed ‘one of the most successful partnerships in UK politics’ for more than a decade but also acknowledged the ‘breakdown’ of her relationship with him.
Brian Cox, star of the TV show Succession and one of the highest-profile supporters of independence, told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme: ‘He was a lot of fun. He was very entertaining. He had great humanity, he was probably I think one of the greatest political thinkers, certainly Scotland has ever produced, and I think possibly these islands have ever produced.
‘He was an extraordinary man. I think his essential appeal was his humanity and how he came across to other people.’
Reflecting on his switch from Labour to the SNP, Mr Cox said: ‘I felt the one place where social democracy was happening was back in my own country, so I suddenly had to rethink my own feelings and Alex enabled me to do that.’
