NICOLA Sturgeon has claimed she “intervened” to stop Alex Salmond from bullying colleagues “many times”.
The former first minister said her onetime mentor, who died suddenly last year aged 69, could be “really rough on people”.
Salmond was accused of bullying colleagues during his time leading the Scottish Government, most recently in a BBC documentary which aired before his death that he described as “venomous”.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Sturgeon (below) said: “He would be really rough on people. Many times I intervened to stop him.”
The former SNP leader also revealed she had already mourned her relationship with Salmond years before his death, after their friendship was torn apart by her government’s investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against him.
She said: “I came to the conclusion that I probably grieved for Alex four years, five years ago.”
On Salmond’s accusers, Sturgeon said: “I’ve seen the impact not just of what they believe happened to them initially but also the impact of the way he then behaved. It’s been pretty hard.”
She added: “I had come to accept that I’d probably never speak to him again — partly because I didn’t think he would want to speak to me, but also because, had he turned up on my doorstep one day, unless he had been prepared to acknowledge some of the things that he had done, I wouldn’t have wanted to do that.”
And she argued against suggestions the schism had undermined the independence movement, saying: “The independence movement is bigger than any one or two individuals, and it has proven itself pretty resilient.
“An independent Scotland is not going to be magically better. It will be down to how well it’s governed, and the political choices that people make: the difference is it will be our choices.”
She batted away questions about the impact of the police investigation and the wisdom of her and her husband Peter Murrell running the SNP while being married, saying the interviewer was straying “too close to the substance of the issue” of the live embezzlement probe.
Acting leader of the Alba Party Kenny MacAskill said: "Alex Salmond could be a demanding man who expected the very highest standards from those who served with or worked for him. But he was a fair man and one who led by example.
"The loyalty and respect that so many had for him was shown at both his funeral and memorial service. There many who had worked with or for him came to pay their respects and honour the man they felt privileged to work with."
