The Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond poses for photographs with a copy of the SNP's 1999 Scottish Parliament elections at the former Royal High School building in Edinburgh, Scotland. Mr Salmond was elected to the Scottish parliament at the election and led the opposition to the Labour Party administration. He was subsequently voted to the position of First Minister after the SNP's election victory of 2007 and served in that position until 2014 when he resigned in the wake of the Scottish independence referendum result. Stock Photo