Humza Yousaf accuses Alex Salmond of abusing power in office

Former First Minister Humza Yousaf has accused his predecessor Alex Salmond of abusing his power while in office.

Mr Salmond, who was cleared of allegations of sexual impropriety in the High Court in 2020, said he had a “sleepy cuddle” with one complainer in his official residence.

Responding to the criticism, made in a new BBC documentary, he said Mr Yousaf had been “reduced to smears” in a “quest for relevance”.

Concerns are also raised in the show about Mr Salmond’s temper, with one former colleague saying she was brought to tears.

The former first minister has previously defended his conduct in government, and has said that he is resting on the verdict of his trial.

He has accused high-ranking members of the government led by his protégé, Nicola Sturgeon, of conspiring against him – something she dismissed as “absurd”.

Mr Salmond led the government between 2007 and 2014, with Ms Sturgeon succeeding him.

Their relationship broke down following complaints about his conduct, both to Scottish government officials and to the police.

Mr Salmond successfully took civil legal action against Ms Sturgeon’s administration for its handling of an internal investigation – ruled to be “tainted with apparent bias” – and was awarded £500,000.

At the subsequent criminal trial, Mr Salmond admitted to having a “sleepy cuddle” with one complainer and what his defence lawyer called “a bit of how’s your father” with another.

Both members of staff were considerably younger than the ex-first minister.

Mr Yousaf, who replaced Ms Sturgeon after she unexpectedly resigned last year, told the BBC documentary that the first minister is ordinarily the most powerful person in the room.

“You can choose to use that power appropriately or you can choose to abuse it,” the former SNP leader said.

“And on too many occasions, given the behaviour that Alex has already admitted, there was too many instances of that abuse of power.”

He also said the civil court defeat made the government look “incompetent”.

Mr Salmond branded his critic “Humza the brief”, calling him “the new self-appointed authority on personal conduct and morality”.

“I am comfortable with my contribution as first minister to advancing Scotland’s interests and the cause of independence,” he said.

“I doubt Humza can say the same, nor that it will be said of him.”

Posting about the documentary on X, Mr Salmond suggested he regretted taking part in what he did not consider to be “serious programming”.

He said the second episode, which focused on the investigations into allegations of harassment, “plumbed new depths even for the BBC”.

The BBC has been asked to comment.

In the documentary, Mr Salmond said he regretted that he no longer spoke to Ms Sturgeon.

“I don’t really do hurt feelings very much … but it’s a big regret that Nicola and I are no longer on speaking terms,” he said. “And I seriously doubt if it’s going to improve.”

The ex-SNP leader added: “Now that’s a great pity, because I did indicate that you shouldn’t say anything is forever, but that’s the way it looks and that’s just the way it’s going to be.

“We’ll just have to let the past take care of itself.”

A Holyrood inquiry into the government’s handling of complaints against Mr Salmond found Ms Sturgeon had misled MSPs over a meeting with her predecessor in her home in 2018, but cleared her of breaching the ministerial code.

In 2021, Mr Salmond launched the Alba Party. It has been highly critical of Ms Sturgeon, Mr Yousaf and current first minister John Swinney.

Ms Sturgeon said Mr Salmond was “for a long time, a very positive force in my life”, adding: “But I think I had to learn how to be myself.”

Mr Salmond described himself as a “tough taskmaster” when he was in charge of the government.

Ms Sturgeon said her predecessor was prone to “outbursts” and that his temper “was out of control” at times.

She said while people in the SNP had “learned to put up with” it, she suggested it was not “actually always acceptable” when in government.

Former SNP MSP Linda Fabiani told the documentary: “Alec would let rip.

“The first time it happened to me I was so shocked, a little bit tearful on the way home.”

She said she did not consider it bullying.

Mr Salmond’s former adviser Geoff Aberdein said he was sacked seven times. “For some reason he’d always expect to see me the next day,” he added.

Mr Aberdein also said that his former boss was “very, very angry” about losing his Westminster seat in 2017, believing he had been “let down” by the party.

Following the election defeat, Mr Salmond launched a show on Russian state broadcaster RT.

Ms Sturgeon said her former mentor knew how difficult the job was, adding: “Shouldn’t he have tried a bit harder to make sure that managing his ego wasn’t one of the problems that landed on my desk?”

Liz Lloyd, Ms Sturgeon’s ex-chief of staff, told the documentary: “It was a real sign that he didn’t really care how he was perceived any more.

“He was going to do what served him and not what served the party, not what served the country.”

Mr Salmond, who suspended his RT show in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, said his successor had been “annoyed” because she had not been told about the show before it launched.

He added: “I wasn’t a member of parliament. The simplest thing to say was Alec makes his choices, I make mine, full stop.”

Mr Salmond is in an ongoing legal battle against the Scottish government, alleging that no-one was held “accountable” for the botched handling of its harassment inquiry.

He lodged a Court of Session petition alleging misfeasance – the wrongful exercise of lawful authority – by civil servants. The government said it would defend its position “robustly”.

SNP MSP Fergus Ewing – a former cabinet minister and frequent critic of the recent party leadership – claimed there had been a “concerted campaign” to “destroy” Mr Salmond by senior figures in Ms Sturgeon’s government.

He told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland programme that the ex-first minister’s reputation was “entirely intact” after being acquitted.

Asked about Mr Salmond’s leadership style, Mr Ewing said: “You need a strong leader you don’t need a shrinking violent. Who amongst us is perfect.”

During the Scottish Parliament inquiry, Ms Sturgeon dismissed as “absurd” suggestions that anyone in her government acted with “malice” or as part of a “plot”. “That claim is not based in any fact,” she told MSPs.

She said that while mistakes were “undoubtedly” made, the government “tried to do the right thing”.

Salmond and Sturgeon – A Troubled Union is available on BBC iPlayer from Tuesday, as well as being broadcast on the BBC Scotland channel on Tuesday and Wednesday.