Alex Salmond’s family vow to ‘defend his name’ in court | UK News

Alex Salmond’s family is determined to “defend his name” in legal action against the Scottish government, his niece has said.

Christina Hendry also claimed there had been a conspiracy against her uncle, the former first minister and SNP leader, who was cleared at trial of 13 sexual offences in 2020.

When he died aged 69 last year, Salmond had been suing the Scottish government over a botched investigation into harassment complaints made about him. His widow Moira has since taken up the case.

Nicola Sturgeon, who succeeded Salmond as first minister, denied claims of a conspiracy in her new memoir, which was highly critical of her former mentor.

Salmond, who died of a heart attack in October 2024 while attending a conference in North Macedonia, was suing the government for misfeasance – a civil law term that means the wrongful exercise of lawful authority.

The former first minster had already successfully taken legal action against the government in 2019 over its mishandling of complaints against him, with the probe ruled to be “tainted with apparent bias”.

He was awarded £500,000 in costs for that case but was seeking a reported £3m in damages and loss of earnings with the fresh legal claim.

His widow Moira has taken up that claim after reportedly securing the support of wealthy backers.

After leaving the SNP, Salmond set up the pro-independence Alba Party.

In the 2020 criminal trial Salmond was cleared of all charges, including attempted rape, but his lawyer admitted in court that his client could “have been a better man.”

Salmond’s niece, Christina, has announced her intention to stand for Alba on the North East list at next year’s Holyrood election.

She said the family was “most definitely united” in support of the legal action.

“We will continue to do anything we need to do to defend his name,” she told Radio’s Good Morning Scotland programme.

The Scottish government previously said it would not comment on live legal proceedings.

In her memoir, Sturgeon claimed that her predecessor was opposed to gay marriage and that he did not read the entirety of his government’s white paper on Scottish independence, published before the 2014 referendum.

She also discussed rumours that he had “consensual affairs”.

In an interview with the Scottish Sun, Hendry described Sturgeon’s claims as “cruel” and said they had caused distress to the family.

She told Good Morning Scotland: “If my uncle was here today, these things would not be being said.

“I believe they are being said because he is not here to defend himself, as he would have done with every fibre of his being.”

In her book, Sturgeon said the emergence of messages between women who made allegations against Salmond and SNP staff members was inaccurately “spun” by the Alba founder to suggest people had been “conspiring to bring him down”.

Hendry said she believed people had conspired against her uncle.

She added: “I think the truth will still come out.”

Hendry said she intended to stand for Alba in the north east to “honour” Salmond’s legacy.

In July, Police Scotland said it would take no further action after investigating a historical sexual assault allegation against Salmond made after his death.