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Alex Salmond sexual harassment scandal

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The Alex Salmond sexual harassment scandal was a political scandal in Scotland concerning the alleged conduct of former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond while in office. From 2017, Salmond faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, including sexual assault and attempted rape, but in 2020 was ultimately found not guilty on 12 charges, and not proven on one of sexual assault with intent to rape; one sexual assault charge was previously withdrawn by the Crown.[1]

There was an associated feud within the Scottish National Party (SNP) between Salmond and his supporters and Nicola Sturgeon and her supporters: Salmond has repeatedly claimed irregularities in the Scottish Government's investigation into his conduct, for which he was awarded damages in 2019. Nicola Sturgeon referred herself to an independent ethics inquiry to examine her own actions with respect to the allegations against Salmond, led by James Hamilton. A Parliamentary Committee was also convened to examine the government's handling of harassment complaints. The committee concluded that Nicola Sturgeon had misled parliament in her recounting of her knowledge of the complaints against Salmond, but the independent investigation into her conduct carried out by James Hamilton concluded that she did not break the ministerial code. Salmond subsequently joined the Alba Party shortly thereafter, Kenny MacAskill and Neale Hanvey, two SNP MPs defected to the party along with several councillors.

History

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Background

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Alex Salmond was twice leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP; 1990-2000, 2004-2014) and served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. After resigning in 2014, his Deputy First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, succeeded him as First Minister and leader of the SNP.

In late 2017, the Scottish Government received complaints of sexual misconduct by Salmond in 2013, while he was First Minister. These became public some months later. In August 2018, Salmond resigned from the SNP in the face of the allegations. In a statement he said that he wanted to avoid internal division within the party and intended to apply to rejoin the SNP once he had an opportunity to clear his name.[2][3]

Internal Scottish Government investigation

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The Scottish Government began an internal investigation into the allegations against Salmond, which included personal meetings between Nicola Sturgeon and Salmond's former chief of staff, Geoff Aberdein, and with Salmond himself at Sturgeon's private residence in Glasgow.[4][5][6] In early June 2018, Sturgeon informed the Scottish Government's Permanent Secretary, Leslie Evans, that she knew about the inquiry into harassment complaints and had discussed it with Salmond.[7]

On 24 August 2018 the Daily Record exclusively reported that Salmond had been reported to the police over claims he sexually assaulted two Bute House staff members as First Minister. This was later established to be a potentially-unlawful leak of information, after investigations by the Scottish Government and the information commissioner failed to establish how the newspaper obtained the information.[8]

Judicial review

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Salmond alleged serious misconduct in the Scottish Government’s handling of accusations of sexual misconduct against him. On 30 August 2018, he launched a crowdfunding appeal to pay for the legal costs of seeking a judicial review into the fairness of the process by which the Scottish Government has handled the allegations.[9] He closed the appeal two days later, on 1 September, after raising £100,000, double the amount he wanted to pay for his legal costs.[10]

On 31 August, the then-senior counsel for the government, Roddy Dunlop QC, warned the government that revelations that a senior official had previously met and briefed the two complainers was "extremely concerning".[1][5] In December 2018, Dunlop warned Leslie Evans that Salmond's legal challenge would "more likely than not succeed", and on 31 December, Evans conceded the judicial review.[5]

On 8 January 2019, the Court of Session, Scotland's supreme civil court, declared the inquiry unlawful on procedural grounds, and awarded Salmond £512,000 in legal costs.[11] Salmond said in response, "while I am glad about the victory which has been achieved today, I am sad that it was necessary to take this action." The Scottish Government's complaints process was ruled to be "unlawful", "procedurally unfair" and "tainted by apparent bias". The Scottish Government later conceded that its procedures had been flawed and paid Salmond’s legal expenses following the ruling.[12] Legal bills cost the taxpayer £630,773, made up of a £512,250 settlement to Salmond from public funds for his legal costs, and the Scottish Government’s own legal costs of £118,523.[13]

The Scottish Government admitted it breached its own guidelines by appointing an investigating officer who had "prior involvement" in the case. Salmond also asked permanent secretary to the Scottish Government, Leslie Evans, to consider her position. Evans stated that the complaints the government had received in January 2018 had not been withdrawn, so the option of re-investigating them remained on the table, once the police probe into the allegations had run its course.[14]

Criminal investigation and trial

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Main article: HM Advocate v Salmond

On 24 January 2019, Police Scotland arrested Salmond. He was charged with 14 offences, including two counts of attempted rape, nine of sexual assault, two of indecent assault, and one of breach of the peace.[15][16]

In a High Court case, HM Advocate v Salmond, Salmond appeared in court on 21 November and entered a plea of "not guilty". The trial started on 9 March 2020.[12]

It was alleged that Alex Salmond tried to rape a woman in Bute House after a private dinner in June 2014.[17][18] She had not mentioned this incident when she first talked to police in 2018. It was further claimed that women were banned from working alone with Salmond within the Scottish civil service.[19]

During the trial, the defence claimed that the married Mr Salmond, characterised as "touchy-feely", who admitted to sexual contact with two of the complainants, both junior to him and much younger, could act inappropriately, and led witnesses who called him "extraordinarily pugnacious" and "extremely demanding".[20] Salmond said he wished he had been "more careful" around others' personal space.[21]

On 23 March, Salmond was found not guilty on 12 charges, and not proven on one of sexual assault with intent to rape; one sexual assault charge was previously withdrawn by the Crown.[1]

Hamilton inquiry

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In January 2019, Nicola Sturgeon referred herself to an independent ministerial ethics body, which led to an ongoing investigation into her actions with respect to a sexual harassment case concerning allegations against Salmond. This followed her admitting that she had a secret meeting and subsequent phone call with Salmond about the Scottish government's allegations against him. She raised these with the Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government, Leslie Evans, two months later, rather than reporting them immediately, as she should if they constitute government matters (as per the Ministerial Code). Sturgeon argued that the meetings were SNP party matters, and thus not covered.

The investigating panel consisted of Dame Elish Angiolini, a former Solicitor General for Scotland and lord advocate, and James Hamilton, a former director of public prosecutions in the Republic of Ireland.[22] Hamilton was investigating whether Sturgeon breached the ministerial code[23] in her role in the Scottish Government's investigation into sexual harassment complaints made against Salmond.[24] This was paused in 2019 and resumed in August 2020.[25] On 22 March 2021, his report was published, concluding that Sturgeon did not breach the ministerial code.[26] Hamilton, however, expressed frustration that several sections of his report were heavily-redacted.[27]

Parliamentary inquiry

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Main article: Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints
 
Salmond preparing to give evidence to the Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints.

On 15 January 2019 the Scottish Parliament agreed to hold its own inquiry into the matter.[28] The Scottish Parliament set up the Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints[29] to investigate how the Government breached its own guidelines in its original investigation into the harassment claims against Salmond, and then lost a judicial review into their actions and had to pay over £500,000 to Salmond for legal expenses.[23] A political row developed over what evidence to this committee Salmond could present.[23][30]

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon initially told parliament that she had first heard of the complaints against Salmond when he told her of them on 2 April 2018.[23] However, 18 months later, she revised her account, saying she had forgotten about an earlier meeting, on 29 March 2018, in which Salmond's former chief of staff Geoff Aberdein told her about the complaints.[23] Critics have described this as a possible breach of the ministerial code, which states that any minister who deliberately misleads parliament should resign.[23] The 29 March meeting was not recorded: meetings on government business are meant to be recorded, but Sturgeon has said this is because it was an SNP meeting.[23]

Sturgeon's husband, Peter Murrell, was called to this inquiry to give evidence on 8 December 2020.[31] Opposition parties criticised Sturgeon on disparity and contradictions between the narratives of Murrell and herself.[32]

 
Sturgeon preparing to give evidence to the Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints

Giving evidence in person in February 2021, Salmond claimed that senior figures in the Scottish Government and the SNP plotted to remove him from public life and to send him to prison.[33] In his evidence to the committee, Salmond said there was "no doubt" that Sturgeon had broken the ministerial code in not revealing the 29 March meeting sooner and in not recording what was really a meeting about government business.[23] Sturgeon denies any wrongdoing and disputes Salmond's allegations.[23][33][30]

Documents and emails published on 2 March 2021 showed that two people supported Salmond's assertion that the meeting was convened as a government, not party, matter.[34] The publication also backed up Salmond's allegation that the identity of one of his accusers had been passed to his former chief of staff, contradicting Sturgeon's statement that "to the very best of my knowledge I do not think that happened".[34] They also confirmed that the government had pursued the legal case against Salmond after being advised by lawyers that it was likely to fail.[34]

On 17 March 2021, David Davis MP used parliamentary privilege to criticise the Scottish Government's handling of allegations against Alex Salmond. Davis, a close personal friend of Salmond, told MPs during a Commons debate that there had been a "concerted effort" by SNP officials to encourage complainers to come forward, and that Sturgeon's chief of staff, Liz Lloyd, had been involved in the civil service investigation into Salmond in February 2018 – months before Nicola Sturgeon claimed to have known about the investigation. He told the House of Commons, "I have it on good authority that there exists from 6th Feb 2018 an exchange of messages between civil servants suggesting that the first minister's chief of staff is interfering in the complaints process against Alex Salmond. If true this suggests the chief of staff had knowledge of the case in February, not April as she has claimed." Nicola Sturgeon rejected Davis' claims, describing them as "the latest instalment of Alex Salmond's conspiracy theory," and re-iterated her confidence in Liz Lloyd.[35][36]

On 19 March 2021, it was reported that a majority of MSPs on the Alex Salmond committee voted to affirm that Nicola Sturgeon misled the inquiry.[37]

Subsequent events

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On 23 September 2021, Police Scotland announced that they were investigating the Daily Record's 28 August 2018 report on the allegations against Salmond as a potentially-unlawful leak of informationThe investigation, codenamed Operation Newbiggin, ended on 14 March 2024 with no police action.[8][38]

On 24 November 2023, Salmond launched a new legal case against the Scottish Government, alleging misfeasance by civil servants over the mishandling of the harassment inquiry, seeking damages of up to £3 million.[39][40] On 6 December of that year, the Court of Session rejected a bid by the Scottish Government to prevent the publication of all evidence gathered by James Hamilton in his investigation into whether Nicola Sturgeon broke the ministerial code over her conduct with Salmond.[27]

On 18 July 2024, Sir David Davis MP, again using parliamentary privileged, named Liz Lloyd, Nicola Sturgeon's ex-chief of staff, as the person responsible for leaking the allegations against Salmond to the Daily Record in 2018.[41]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Alex Salmond cleared of all sexual assault charges". BBC News. 23 March 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  2. ^ "Ex-SNP leader Alex Salmond resigns from party". BBC News Online. 29 August 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  3. ^ "Alex Salmond resigns from SNP after sexual misconduct claims". The Guardian. 29 August 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  4. ^ "Witnesses dispute Nicola Sturgeon account of meetings with Alex Salmond". The National. 2 March 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  5. ^ a b c "Timeline: the major developments so far in the Sturgeon and Salmond affair". the Guardian. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  6. ^ "Salmond affair: Government confirms Sturgeon had previously undisclosed meeting". HeraldScotland. 3 August 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  7. ^ "Sturgeon told of Salmond allegations earlier than thought, inquiry told". the Guardian. 18 August 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Alex Salmond inquiry leaks being investigated by police". BBC News. 23 September 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  9. ^ "Sturgeon's 'huge sadness' as Salmond resigns". BBC News Online. 30 August 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  10. ^ "Salmond crowdfunder closed after passing £100,000 mark". BBC News. BBC. 1 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  11. ^ "Alex Salmond receives £512,000 costs after 'botched investigation'". the Guardian. 13 August 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  12. ^ a b "Alex Salmond accused of sexual assaults on 10 women". BBC News. 21 November 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  13. ^ Severin Carrell (13 August 2019). "Alex Salmond receives £512,000 costs after 'botched investigation'". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  14. ^ "Nicola Sturgeon rejects claims over Alex Salmond inquiry evidence". BBC News. 19 March 2021.
  15. ^ "Former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond arrested". BBC News. 24 January 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  16. ^ "Alex Salmond: Former SNP leader arrested and charged". Sky News. 24 January 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  17. ^ Carrell, Severin (10 March 2020). "Alex Salmond trial witness denies making up attempted rape claim". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  18. ^ "Woman tells court Alex Salmond 'pounced' on her". BBC News. 9 March 2020.
  19. ^ "Women banned from working alone with Alex Salmond, court hears". HeraldScotland.
  20. ^ "Alex Salmond trial: What is the political fallout?". BBC News. 24 March 2020.
  21. ^ "Alex Salmond's back in town and it's still all about him | Katy Strickland". the Guardian. 28 March 2021.
  22. ^ Carrell, Severin (13 January 2019). "Sturgeon refers herself to ethics body over actions in Salmond case". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
  23. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Alex Salmond says there is 'no doubt' Nicola Sturgeon broke ministerial code". BBC News. 26 February 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  24. ^ McLaughlin, Mark. "Independent investigator James Hamilton holds Sturgeon's fate in his hands". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 20 March 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  25. ^ "James Hamilton inquiry: Report into whether Nicola Sturgeon breached ministerial code to be released today". www.scotsman.com. 22 March 2021. Archived from the original on 22 March 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  26. ^ "Nicola Sturgeon cleared of breaching ministerial code over Alex Salmond saga". BBC News. 22 March 2021. Archived from the original on 22 March 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  27. ^ a b "Judge throws out bid to withhold Nicola Sturgeon inquiry evidence". BBC News. 6 December 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  28. ^ "MSPs to hold inquiry over Salmond row". 15 January 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  29. ^ "Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints". www.parliament.scot. 23 December 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  30. ^ a b "Salmond and Sturgeon: How the best of political double acts fell apart". BBC News. 26 February 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  31. ^ "Alex Salmond inquiry likely to recall SNP chief exec and Nicola Sturgeon's husband Peter Murrell". www.scotsman.com. 9 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  32. ^ "MSPs bid to recall SNP chief Peter Murrell to Salmond inquiry". BBC News. 9 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  33. ^ a b "The Alex Salmond inquiry and the political stink at Holyrood". BBC News. 24 February 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  34. ^ a b c "Calls for Nicola Sturgeon to quit over Alex Salmond revelations". BBC News. 2 March 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  35. ^ "Alex Salmond complaints were 'encouraged' claims Conservative MP". BBC News. 17 March 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  36. ^ "Nicola Sturgeon 'refutes' MP's claims about Alex Salmond row". BBC News. 17 March 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  37. ^ "MSPs on Alex Salmond committee say Nicola Sturgeon misled them". BBC News. 19 March 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  38. ^ "No police action after Alex Salmond leak investigation". BBC News. 14 March 2024. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  39. ^ "Alex Salmond launches legal action against Scottish government". BBC News. 24 November 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  40. ^ "What is behind Alex Salmond's new legal fight with the Scottish government?". BBC News. 24 November 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  41. ^ "David Davis names Nicola Sturgeon's aide as Salmond leak source". BBC News. 18 July 2024. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
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