Yesterday's not guilty verdicts in Edinburgh preserve – to a degree – Salmond's political legacy and personal reputation which would otherwise have been indelibly stained by convictions for sexual assault. There is plenty of photographic evidence of Mrs Sturgeon recoiling from another of her mentor's touchy feely public welcomes and slobbery kisses. His off-colour one-man show at the Edinburgh Festival also displeased Mrs Sturgeon. But in 2004 he returned to lead the whole party once again, inviting Mrs Sturgeon to be his deputy. Salmond and Mrs Sturgeon spoke face to face or by phone about the matter, several times in the following months.

Source: Daily Mail March 24, 2020 02:06 UTC