BRITAIN: Mr Alex Salmond staged a stormer political comeback yesterday to claim the leadership of the Scottish National Party for the second time with more than 75 per cent of the votes in his party's first postal ballot writes Frank Millar in London.
The defeated Ms Roseanna Cunningham admitted she had been "well stuffed" after she trailed Mr Salmond by 4,952 (75.76 per cent) to 953 (14.58 per cent). Third-placed Mr Mike Russell had 631 (9.65 per cent).
The scale of Mr Salmond's victory was probably an even greater surprise for Ms Cunningham than his original decision to stand. Following the resignation of Mr Alex Swinney in the aftermath of disappointing results in the European elections in June, Mr Salmond vowed he would not seek the leadership a second time. "If nominated I'll decline. If drafted I'll defer. And if elected I'll resign," he declared then.
Yesterday, however, he was celebrating a second "double" as his running mate, Ms Nicola Sturgeon, confounded predictions and claimed the deputy leadership with 3,521 ((53.87 per cent), comfortably ahead of Mr Fergus Ewing on 1,605 (24.56 per cent) and Ms Christine Grahame who polled 1,410 (21.57 per cent).
Speaking from the futuristic setting of the Dynamic Earth visitor attraction opposite the new £431 million home of the Scottish Parliament, Mr Salmond vowed to revive the party's fortunes after its recent worst performance in 17 years.
"We intend to lead with the head and the heart and touch the soul of Scotland," he declared, promising a new vision of social democracy which would carry the party to success in next year's expected general election, and on to a renewed quest for Scottish independence.
Confirming it was "good to be back" the charismatic Mr Salmond said his thoughts during the leadership contest had been dominated by a finding from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation that 73 per cent of Scots would like to vote for the SNP if the party provided them with the right circumstances. "It is going to be my job, Nicola's job, the SNP's job, to provide those circumstances," he said.
Mr Salmond rejected suggestions, recurrent through the contest, that he could not sustain his leadership of the party from Westminster, where he represents Banff and Buchan. "I led the SNP for 10 years as a member of the Westminster Parliament and no one ever thought I was leading it from London," he asserted.
"I will be leading it from around Scotland - every nook and cranny, every village and town and city - as we rouse this nation to make progress next year, and secure victory (in the next Scottish Parliament elections) in 2007, and then on to Scottish independence."
With SNP ambitions seemingly thwarted by the advent of devolution, Mr Salmond insisted: "This democratic election, this one-member-one-vote mandate, will provide a springboard for a reinvigorated independence campaign to carry us to... freedom for the people of this nation."