Alex Salmond

Salmond took the SNP into government in 2007 as a minority administration, then won the outright majority in 2011 that the electoral system was supposed to prevent, which led to the Edinburgh Agreement with David Cameron and the 2014 independence referendum, lost 55 to 45. He used devolution as a stepping stone to independence rather than an end in itself. His later trial and acquittal on sexual offence charges, and his bitter split from Sturgeon, divided the movement. He died in October 2024.