LONDON (AP) — Alex Salmond, the former first minister of Scotland who for decades championed Scotland’s independence from the U.K., has died. Tributes poured in from across the political spectrum, with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the Labour Party calling him a “monumental figure” of both Scottish and British politics. FILE - Alex Salmond, former Scotland first minister, attends an Alba party meeting in Dundee, Scotland, on April 19, 2022. Salmond, as then leader of the Scottish National Party, led the independence campaign in the referendum in 2014, but lost, gaining 45% of the vote. He subsequently formed a new party called Alba — the Scottish Gaelic word for Scotland — and was acquitted of the charges.
