Former first minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon rejected claims she had been the victim of coercive control by her predecessor Alex Salmond, although she said she wished she had done more to stand up against his “bullying” of others.
She also said that her confidence could be “knocked” by disapproval from Mr Salmond – saying her former boss and one-time mentor “probably played on that a little bit”.
And while she said she had heard rumours of “consensual affairs”, she had no knowledge of any “inappropriate sexual behaviour on his part”.
The former SNP leader spoke about her relationship with Mr Salmond as she appeared at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on Thursday.
While she said they had an “incredibly successful partnership” at one point, their relationship broke down after allegations against Mr Salmond emerged.
The former first minister went on trial on a series of sexual assault charges in 2020, with this resulting in Mr Salmond being acquitted of all the charges against him.
Speaking about him to broadcaster Kirsty Wark, Ms Sturgeon said: “I did not have knowledge of inappropriate behaviour on his part, any inappropriate sexual behaviour.”
However, she said: “I heard rumours over the years about affairs, consensual affairs. I took the view, rightly or wrongly, that that was none of my business, what consenting adults get up to is their business.”
Pressing the former first minister on her relationship with her predecessor, Ms Wark said that Ms Sturgeon’s newly published memoirs, Frankly, portrayed Mr Salmond as “almost Svengali like”.
The journalist added: “In a way, there’s almost like a thread of coercive control at some times in this book from Alex Salmond.”
Ms Sturgeon rejected this, saying she “wouldn’t describe it as that”.
She said Mr Salmond, who died in October 2024, had been “an incredibly strong, incredibly charismatic individual”, adding that for much of her life “he was a force for good”.
Speaking about him, Ms Sturgeon said: “He encouraged me to reach beyond what I would have considered my abilities to be, he pushed me on.
“I once said, ages ago, that he believed in me before I believed in myself.”
But she added that “his approval mattered to me and his disapproval knocked my confidence”.
Ms Sturgeon continued: “Latterly, he probably played on that a little bit.”
Ms Wark suggested that Mr Salmond had “definitely undermined” Ms Sturgeon “a lot of the time”.
The former first minister, however, told her: “He also bolstered me a lot of the time.”
Recalling Mr Salmond, Ms Sturgeon said that to describe him as a bully “is maybe putting it too strongly”, but she added that “he could behave in a bullying manner”.
Asked if she challenged his behaviour, the former first minister stated: “I don’t think I did it enough, but yes, I did.
“I would on occasion, people would have seen me do it, when he was giving the hairdryer treatment to whatever member of staff, I would say, ‘enough Alex’.”
But she added: “I wish I had done it more.”
After she took over as leader of the SNP, Mr Salmond had advised her not to keep her then husband, Peter Murrell, in his post as chief executive of the party.
At the time, Ms Sturgeon rejected this, with Mr Murrell only stepping down from the role in March 2023 – the month after Ms Sturgeon announced her decision to step down as first minister and SNP leader.
She said: “I can look back now and say, maybe, I should have taken a different decision.
“That is something I probably got wrong.”
The couple have now separated and, in March this year, the former SNP chief executive appeared in court charged with embezzlement following a police investigation into party finances,
However, Ms Sturgeon insisted that she “did not think” her decision to keep her then-husband in his party role was the start of the the “fissure” in her relationship with Mr Salmond.
“I don’t think that created any tension between us,” she said.
