a politician who loves to create headlines

Alex Salmond loves creating headlines. If the interviews he gives aren’t interesting enough to make news, he’ll be disappointed.

As a young radio reporter, I was sent to a business breakfast event where he was demanding Britain join the European single currency.

When I suggested that this was not new and that he had said it many times before, he said, “Yes, but I say it more forcefully now because the case is more urgent.”

Anything to make his contribution valuable.

It’s easy to be late with him. He tends not to limit the length of his interviews, preferring to engage in further conversation, debate and show-off after the microphone is turned off.

I remember interviewing him at Bute House, his official residence in Edinburgh, early in his tenure as First Minister.

The interview was over and I needed to leave – but he wanted to show me a collection of silverware found in the cupboard and share some of its history.

While he’s charming, funny, and always provides a trenchant analysis of today’s politics, there’s also a less pleasant side to his personality.

I would frown when he sometimes showed impatience and irritation with his employees. He may be very demanding of them.

I remember bringing a senior BBC editor from the London newsroom to meet him and being surprised when he asked my colleague if he was on a colonial visit.

He had a love-hate relationship with the BBC. He was delighted when he landed a prestigious spot on a network show like Question Time, especially as his political career was going downhill.

Other times, he’ll get angry at output he doesn’t like.

After he was acquitted, he resented my anonymous interview with a woman who had accused him of sex crimes in court.

This was not an attempt to reopen the case but a response to what he claimed was a political conspiracy. I’m not sure if he will ever forgive me.

I traveled with him to Europe, the United States and China. I remember him showing up uncharacteristically early at the Forbidden City in Beijing to meet with China’s vice-premier, only to find that he was turned away.

It would have made for stunning television, but I don’t think we got it on camera. He thought we’d captured the awkward moment and gave me a private briefing and some scoop in the hope I wouldn’t use it.

Alex Salmond lives and breathes politics and when he was kicked out of parliament in 2017 he seemed completely lost.

I met him in Edinburgh shortly afterwards and we caught a taxi together to Waverley station. We naturally talked about politics and when it came time to part ways, he just continued the conversation.

We’ve talked a lot less in recent years. he refused to participate My podcast series about Nicola Sturgeon’s time in office — which apparently includes a huge rift between them.

That’s not like him. In my past experience, he rarely misses a media opportunity.

In his view, it’s better to go out and make your own point of view rather than shy away and let someone else do the narrative.