Alex Salmond, who turned his Scottish National Party’s dream of power into reality even though he didn’t see his vision of an independent country come true, has died. He was 69.

Alex Salmond, Champion of Scottish Independence, Dies at 69

Alex Salmond, who turned his Scottish National Party’s dream of power into reality even though he didn’t see his vision of an independent country come true, has died. He was 69.

He first made his mark at Westminster in 1988 when he was suspended for interrupting the annual budget speech of Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson, breaking the convention that the speech is heard without interventions. Salmond made his protest when Lawson announced his plan to cut the top rate of income tax to 40%.

Salmond became leader of his party in 1990 and campaigned in the 1992 general election under the slogan of “Free by 93.” He resigned the post a decade later after criticism of his leadership by some party members over support for the Labour government’s plan to give Scotland limited powers of self-rule.

Salmond became SNP leader for a second time in 2004. In June that year, following the resignation of John Swinney, he said publicly “if nominated, I’ll decline. If drafted, I’ll defer. And if elected, I’ll resign.”

A month later he changed his mind when it appeared that Sturgeon, widely seen as his protege, was about to lose. Salmond finally quit London-based politics at the 2010 general election to focus fully on his role as leader in Edinburgh.

Salmond wrote a regular column about horse racing in the Scotsman newspaper until 2004 and was an enthusiastic golfer. He married Moira McGlashan, a Scottish Office civil servant 17 years older than him, in 1981. They had no children.

(Updates with more details starting in fourth paragraph.)