Mourners honor ‘political genius’ Alex Salmond at Edinburgh service | Alex Salmond

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Scottish First Minister John Swinney were among those who gathered at a memorial service for Alex Salmond following his sudden death in October aged 69.

Tributes were paid to Salmond during the service on Saturday in Edinburgh; held to celebrate his love of Scotland and his commitment to the cause of independence.

Among those paying tribute was Kenny MacAskill, a long-time friend who served as justice secretary under Salmond and helped him lead the Alba party after the two men left the Scottish National party.

MacAskill, now the acting Alba leader, told the congregation that Salmond had been a “giant of a man” who was “an inspiration, a political genius”. “Most of all, a man who had the cause of independence burned into his heart and burned into his soul,” he added.

The cause of independence was Salmond’s “guiding light, his north star”, MacAskill said, adding that “he was so close to achieving it”.

Recalling Salmond’s words from when he stepped down as First Minister that “the dream must never die”, MacAskill ended his speech with the words: “Your dream must be delivered.”

Attendees included Salmond’s widow Moira, as well as Scottish Labor leader Anas Sarwar, former Labor First Minister Henry McLeish and Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay.

Former Conservative Brexit minister and Salmond’s long-time friend David Davis gave a reading, as did former SNP government minister and MSP Fergus Ewing.

Scottish folk singer Dougie MacLean performed his song Caledonia, while singer Sheena Wellington led mourners in a rendition of Robert Burns’ classic A Man’s a Man For a’ That.

Scottish duo the Proclaimers were applauded for their performance of Cap in Hand – a pro-independence song with the line: “I can’t understand why we let someone else rule our country cap in hand.”

Brothers Craig and Charlie Reid said: “We will do this for Alex, with love and respect and eternal gratitude for everything you did for our country.”

Christina Hendry described her “Uncle Alex” as a “political giant, a strong leader, a fearless campaigner”, but also remembered him as a “dearly loved husband, brother and uncle”.

While she said he had been “the most senior man in Scotland”, he had “always made time for his family”, recalling how he called her brother on his birthday – the day after the 2014 Scottish independence referendum – to apologize for not posting. a card “as he had been busy” before telling them he would “step down in 10 minutes”.

She told the congregation: “As his family, we always felt loved, no matter how far away he was or how long it was before we saw him next.

“We always knew he stood up for our country and we were grateful for that.” Hendry continued: “The world will be a much quieter place without Uncle Alex, for Moira, for the wider family and for Scotland.

“Uncle Alex’s passing is a great loss to many. A loss of Scotland’s voice on the international stage. A loss of integrity in Scottish politics. And a great loss to the Scottish independence movement. As a family it is a loss we will probably never get over .”

A private family funeral has already taken place. While around 500 people, including family, friends and politicians from across the spectrum, attended the service at St. Giles’ Cathedral, his successor Nicola Sturgeon was not present.