Announces resignation

Salmond announces that he will resign as First Minister and head of the SNP. He will remain in the post until the SNP’s annual conference in Perth on Nov. 13-15 and will then stand down and allow another leader to be elected. He does not endorse a successor. At his official residence in Edinburgh:

It has been the privilege of my life to serve Scotland as First Minister. But as I said often during the referendum campaign this is not about me or the SNP. It is much more important than that. The position is this. We lost the referendum vote but can still carry the political initiative. More importantly Scotland can still emerge as the real winner.