Alex Salmond has taken a cash hit after the value of a company he owns fell by more than 50 per cent in a year.
In a blow for the former first minister, The Chronicles of Deer is now worth only £62,536 – down from about £154,893.
Salmond, who is attempting a political comeback by standing for the new pro-indy Alba Party, is also counting the cost of recent legal battles.
He was acquitted of sexual offences charges after a trial last year but did not claim legal aid.
The Holyrood Inquiry into the Government’s unlawful sexual misconduct probe into him also hit the ex-SNP leader in the pocket.
Part of the inquiry required him to sift through thousands of Government documents – an exercise that required legal assistance.
An examination of company records reveals the income in the firm he set up in 2015 has dwindled.
The equity in The Chronicles of Deer –whose purpose is described in filings as “book publishing” and “television programming and broadcasting activities” – is at its lowest since 2017.
Last year, Salmond also relinquished control of another company, Slainte Media, which produces his current affairs TV show for Kremlin-backed RT.
It was reported he made the move so he could pay bills from the trial.
After the launch of Alba, Salmond said his RT show would be “suspended” for the “course of the election campaign”.
He has not confirmed whether it will be cancelled if he is elected.
Asked earlier this week if he is skint, Salmond said his legal bills had been “very substantial”.
He said there had been a need to proof government documents but added his lawyers had charged a “very limited fee”.
Salmond previously said: “Like many of us, you can go through tough times. But many, many people in Scotland have things much, much tougher than I do.
“We are in a situation where there are millions in Scottish society who are finding the economics and finances very tight indeed at the present moment.”
One bright spot for Salmond’s finances is that he is still entitled to a £42,000-a-year pension as a former first minister.
He became entitled to the sum when he quit as FM in 2014 – cash that was on top of his MSP’s salary.
He addressed the double payment row by donating the £42,000 to a charity set up to honour his late mother Mary for as long as he was an MSP.
Earlier this week, the Record asked Salmond if he would again donate the pension to the Mary Salmond Trust if he won in May but no response was provided.
Lib Dem MSP Alex Cole Hamilton: “I hope Mr Salmond is not returned to Holyrood. But if he is, then he must sever links with Kremlin-backed channels.”
Meanwhile, Sturgeon said that Alba does not qualify for being included in the TV leaders’ debates.
Salmond has claimed there is an “unanswerable” case for its inclusion but Sturgeon said: “In terms of the conditions I understand have to be met, I can’t see his party meets them – but that’s a matter for the broadcasters and Ofcom.”
