Scotland’s political landscape has been shaken once again by the publication of explosive memoir extracts from Nicola Sturgeon, the former First Minister and Scottish National Party (SNP) leader. In her book, Frankly, due for release on August 14, 2025, Sturgeon lays bare her fractured relationship with her predecessor and one-time mentor, Alex Salmond, and confronts persistent allegations of a conspiracy against him—claims she flatly denies.
According to BBC News, Sturgeon insists there was never a plot to destroy Salmond, describing such claims as "a fabrication, the invention of a man who wasn’t prepared to reflect honestly on his own conduct." She recounts in vivid detail the moment in April 2018, at her home near Glasgow, when Salmond first informed her of the sexual misconduct allegations that would soon engulf both their lives and Scottish politics. "The substance of the complaints, one in particular, shocked me. I felt sick," she writes.
Sturgeon’s memoirs, as reported by The Sunday Times and Daily Mail, reveal the emotional and political turmoil she experienced as the scandal unfolded. At first, she describes Salmond as "upset and mortified," admitting to the substance of at least one complaint and calling it a "misunderstanding" for which he had apologized. However, she claims it soon became clear that Salmond wanted her to intervene, to halt or redirect the government’s investigation into the complaints. Sturgeon refused, a decision she says made the "break-up of one of the most successful partnerships in modern British politics all but inevitable."
"Eventually, though, I had to face the fact that he was determined to destroy me. I was now engaged in mortal political combat with someone I knew to be both ruthless and highly effective," Sturgeon writes, acknowledging the personal grief she felt at losing Salmond as a friend. "I went through what I can only describe as a grieving process. I had occasional, vivid dreams in which we were still on good terms. I would wake up from these feeling utterly bereft."
The allegations against Salmond, which emerged publicly in 2018, led to his resignation from the SNP and a judicial review of the Scottish Government’s handling of the investigation. That review, as both BBC News and Daily Mail confirm, found the process to be "unlawful, unfair and tainted by apparent bias." Salmond was awarded more than £500,000 in legal expenses as a result. The findings of the government’s probe were leaked to the press before their scheduled publication, a move Sturgeon claims she did not orchestrate—astonishingly suggesting Salmond himself might have been responsible.
In March 2020, Salmond was acquitted of 13 sexual offence charges, including attempted rape, following a high-profile trial at the High Court in Edinburgh. Salmond’s lawyer admitted during the proceedings that his client "could have been a better man." Sturgeon, however, accuses Salmond of failing to show genuine contrition for his "inappropriate" behavior towards women. "He was prepared to traumatise, time and again, the women at the centre of it all," she writes, adding that he "impugned the integrity of the institutions at the heart of Scottish democracy—government, police, Crown Office."
The fallout from these events led to deep divisions not just between Sturgeon and Salmond, but within the broader nationalist movement. According to Daily Mail, Salmond’s allies, including former SNP Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, have responded furiously to Sturgeon’s memoirs. MacAskill accuses her of "rewriting history" and "distorting the truth," arguing that "history will judge her cruelly." He insists that it was Sturgeon’s government, not Salmond, that was found to have acted unlawfully and unfairly, and calls for a public inquiry into the Scottish Government’s actions during the scandal.
Sturgeon addresses the conspiracy theories that have dogged her since the scandal broke. She argues that claims of a coordinated plot against Salmond are baseless: "A conspiracy against Alex would have needed a number of women deciding to concoct false allegations, without any obvious motive for doing so. It would then have required criminal collusion between them, senior ministers and civil servants, the police and the Crown. This, she says, was a fabrication." She also notes that messages exchanged between the women who made complaints and SNP staff were misrepresented by Salmond as evidence of a conspiracy, when in reality, she says, they were simply seeking support and comfort from one another.
The personal toll of these events on Sturgeon is evident throughout her memoir. She reflects on the lasting impact of her estrangement from Salmond, writing, "I know I will never quite escape the shadow he casts, even in death." Sturgeon was attending a conference in Ohrid, North Macedonia, in October 2024 when Salmond died of a heart attack at age 69. She did not attend his funeral, and was instead seen at comedian Janey Godley’s funeral on the day of Salmond’s memorial.
The memoir also delves into other personal and political challenges Sturgeon has faced. She discusses being questioned by police in April 2023 as part of Operation Branchform, an investigation into SNP finances. She describes her arrest as "mental torture" and recounts her "utter disbelief" at the police raid on the home she shared with her husband, Peter Murrell, who has since been charged with embezzlement. Sturgeon was later exonerated. She also opens up about suffering a miscarriage in 2010 and shares her view that sexuality is not "binary."
As BBC News and Daily Mail both report, the release of Frankly has reignited fierce debate within Scottish politics and among the public. Salmond’s family and supporters maintain that he was the victim of a political vendetta, while Sturgeon stands by her account, adamant that she acted with integrity throughout. The memoir’s revelations have prompted renewed calls for an independent inquiry into the Scottish Government’s handling of the Salmond case, reflecting the deep and lingering divisions the scandal has left in its wake.
Sturgeon’s candid reflections offer a rare glimpse into the personal costs of political leadership, especially when trust between allies collapses so spectacularly. As Scotland continues to grapple with the legacy of these events, Frankly is certain to shape public understanding—and debate—about one of the most tumultuous chapters in modern Scottish political history.
