Alex Salmond was one of the dominant figures of Scottish politics for more than three decades.
But all of that is in the past.
Salmond lost his seat at the 2017 general election and quit the SNP the following year as he successfully fought to clear his name in court.
When he gave evidence to a committee of MSPs earlier this year, he emphasised he was now a private citizen.
Now Salmond is attempting to return to elected politics following the launch of his new Alba Party last month.
He’s unhappy he wasn’t offered a place at last night’s STV leaders’ debate.
Sorry, Alex, but it takes more than launching a political party to earn a spot at the podium.
He shouldn’t need reminding he represents a fringe party at the moment. We wouldn’t expect invites to a leaders’ debate to be sent out to the Monster Raving Loony Party.
It could well be that Alba gets its foot in the door at May’s election, which would change the Holyrood landscape.
For now, however, Salmond, and the likes of George Galloway, have no right to appear at leaders’ debates.
Until they get points on the board – in this case elected MSPs in the Scottish Parliament – they can watch it on TV like the rest of us.
