Salmond confirms he will stand for Westminster

Former SNP leader and First Minister Alex Salmond has confirmed he'll stand for the UK Parliament.

He's confirmed the decision to a local party meeting.

Mr Salmond will stand in the Gordon seat which is being vacated by Liberal Democrat president Sir Malcolm Bruce.

At the 2010 election, he had a majority of 6748 over the SNP.

Christine Jardine, a local journalist, will is the LibDem candidate for Gordon in May.

Salmond currently represents Aberdeenshire East in the Scottish Parliament, and after he stood down following the referendum result, said he would continue in that capacity. 

Most of his political career has been spent at Westminster, and this move is seen as a strong sign that the SNP intends to seriously contest the Westminster election, to make sure 'The Vow', promised by pro-union parties during the referendum campaign, is delivered.

SNP membership since the referendum has almost quadrupled to over 90,000 and opinion polls have suggested the party could make huge inroads into Labour's 41 Scottish seats.

Mr Salmond said: "Almost twelve weeks ago I stepped down as First Minister. I said that I believed that Scotland could still emerge as a winner from the referendum process. It is now clear what we have to do as a country in order to secure that progress; the progress which we were promised.
 
“Three things are now self-evident.
 
“Firstly, the Smith Commission has not measured up to what was promised. It is not proposing "home rule", "devo max" and still less "near federalism". It is real control of one more tax and a small proportion of welfare spending; it would leave Scotland still in the clutches of Westminster austerity. That is not Robert Smith's fault. It rather reflects the reality that the Westminster parties will concede to Scotland as little as they can get away with. It is up to us to ensure that they get away with nothing.
 
“Secondly, the man who said he would stand guarantor of the vow has retired from politics, after describing the central proposal of the Smith Commission on income tax as a "Tory trap". Whatever Gordon Brown had in mind when he underwrote the Vow it cannot be, by definition, what has been offered and there is certainly no way now he can guarantee any delivery.
 
“Thirdly, the SNP and progressive allies can emerge as a powerful force in the next Westminster Parliament. Under our brilliant new leader, Nicola Sturgeon the SNP is now the only true mass membership party in these islands. No overall majority seems the most likely outcome of the Westminster elections and therefore the opportunity exists for Scotland to emerge from next year’s election in a commanding position.
 
“Without the gaining of that real power and influence Scotland faces a bleak prospect. Continued austerity with further cuts in public services; the renewal of a Trident weapons system which is both unaffordable and unusable; the undermining of our vital European relationship and a continued assault on the poor and powerless by a Westminster elite without a semblance of social conscience,
 
“In the weeks since the referendum the people of Scotland have refused to give up on the hope of a better Scotland.
 
“For those who voted Yes the referendum offered the possibility of real change. For many who voted No they insist on the vow being properly redeemed.
 
“Therefore it is incumbent on all of us to step up to the plate – to match the spirit being shown by the people. Therefore I can tell the constituency today that I am a candidate for the SNP nomination for Gordon.”
 
Mr Salmond also said he had no ambition to lead the SNP Group at Westminster and would if elected, for a year with a duel mandate for Westminster and Holyrood, donate one salary to a charity supporting local youth causes.

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