Alex Salmond sexual harassment scandal

Then-First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also referred herself to an independent ethics inquiry to examine her own actions with respect to the allegations against Salmond, led by James Hamilton.

After the conclusion of the parliamentary and independent inquiries, Salmond continued to pursue legal action against the Scottish Government until his death in 2024, alleging misfeasance by civil servants over the mishandling of the harassment investigation.

[4][10] Salmond and Sturgeon were informed that the government's investigation was complete on 22 August 2018, with Leslie Evans telling them that she intended to make the fact of the complaints public.

In July 2024, nearly six years later, Sir David Davis MP used parliamentary privilege to name Liz Lloyd, then Nicola Sturgeon's chief of staff, as the source of the leak.

His demand for a judicial review singled out the conduct of Leslie Evans, saying that the "procedure as put into operation by the permanent secretary is grossly unfair and therefore inevitably will lead to prejudicial outcomes".

[4] On 30 August 2018, the same day of his resignation from the SNP, Salmond launched a crowdfunding appeal to pay for the legal costs of seeking a review into the fairness of the process by which the Scottish Government has handled the allegations.

Nevertheless, on 20 September, the Scottish Government confirmed that it would contest Salmond's judicial review, saying that, "As we have said previously, we are confident our processes are legally sound and we will vigorously defend our position.

[4] Leslie Evans later admitted to the Scottish Parliament committee that the allegations had been passed to the Crown Office despite the complainants being reluctant to pursue criminal action.

Lord Pentland ruled that an independent advocate, Morag Ross QC, would examine the documents to assess whether they should be disclosed to Salmond's legal team.

[6] Dunlop and Solicitor Advocate Christine O'Neill urged the government to admit defeat in the judicial review by 6 December, warning that "it makes little sense to continue to defend the indefensible", and that "the least worst option" was to concede: "We understand how unpalatable that advice will be, and we do not tender it lightly.

[9][5][23] In response to questions from opposition leaders in the Scottish Parliament, Nicola Sturgeon denied any suggestion of a conspiracy against Salmond, and insisted that she had not sought to intervene in the investigation process.

[33] Shortly after the trial, video footage emerged apparently showing Gordon Jackson on a crowded train making negative comments about Salmond and naming two of the alleged victims in the case.

The investigating panel consisted of Dame Elish Angiolini, a former Solicitor General for Scotland and lord advocate, and James Hamilton, a former director of public prosecutions in the Republic of Ireland.

Murrell claimed not to have discussed the allegations in detail with his wife Nicola Sturgeon, which Liberal Democrat member Alex Cole-Hamilton said was "hard to believe".

[46][47][48] Giving evidence in person in February 2021, Salmond claimed that senior figures in the Scottish Government and the SNP plotted to remove him from public life and to send him to prison.

[53][54] Finally, facing a vote of no confidence which all four opposition parties threatened to back, Deputy First Minister John Swinney agreed to release the Scottish Government's legal advice on 2 March 2021.

He told the House of Commons, "I have it on good authority that there exists from 6th Feb 2018 an exchange of messages between Judith Mackinnon and [Scottish government's director of people] Barbara Allison suggesting the first minister's chief of staff is interfering in the complaints process against Alex Salmond.

[57][58] Nicola Sturgeon rejected Davis' claims, describing them as "the latest instalment of Alex Salmond's conspiracy theory," and re-iterated her confidence in Liz Lloyd.

[72][73] In March 2021, former British diplomat and political activist Craig Murray, who supported Salmond throughout the trial, was found to be in contempt of court by Lady Dorrian after he published information on his blog that could potentially identify some of the complainants through "jigsaw identification".

Murray was released on 30 November 2021 after serving half of his eight-month sentence, and as of 2024 remains the only person to face prison time in relation to the Alex Salmond sexual harassment scandal.

Following that ruling, Benjamin Harrop asked for copies of the Scottish Government's legal advice relating to its decision to appeal the request to the Court of Session.

David Hamilton claimed that this had "significantly delayed and frustrated" the "right to access information", and "cost Scottish public finances tens of thousands of pounds of money and hundreds of hours of staff time on what was ultimately shown to be a weak legal argument."

Hamilton ordered the Scottish Government to disclose legal advice related to its decisions to challenge FOI requests, which it was required to do by 26 October or make an appeal on his ruling to the Court of Session.

[11][80] On 24 November 2023, Salmond launched a new legal case against the Scottish Government, alleging misfeasance by civil servants over the mishandling of the harassment investigation, seeking damages of up to £3 million.

[83] In a statement, Salmond said, "Despite the astonishing revelations of misfeasance contained in the eventual publication of the government's own legal advice, and despite the specific findings of the Parliamentary Inquiry into the conduct of the former Permanent Secretary and the former First Minister, not one single person has been held accountable.

[85] On 30 August 2024, a Court of Session hearing on Salmond's civil case heard that James Hynd was under police investigation for having possibly made a false statement to the Scottish Parliament inquiry.

"[86] On 18 July 2024, Sir David Davis MP, again using parliamentary privilege, named Liz Lloyd, Nicola Sturgeon's ex-chief of staff, as the person responsible for leaking the allegations against Salmond to the Daily Record in 2018.

"[12][87] In an interview on 8 September 2024, SNP MSP Fergus Ewing claimed that there had been "concerted action" on the part of Scottish Government civil servants against Alex Salmond, "with the objective of ensuring he was reported to the Crown with a view to his being charged with serious criminal offences".

[90] In an obituary published in The Mail on Sunday, Sir David Davis paid tribute to his "dear friend" Salmond, and said that; "His death came a day before I was due to meet with him to discuss the next round in dealing with both the Scottish Government's malevolent actions against him and the failure of the rule of law in Scotland."

Hamilton also criticised the Scottish Government for a misleading a media statement accompanying the disclosure on 26 October, which suggested that ministers had a "stateable case", but that this was "not a true or transparent reflection of advice received".