ALEX Salmond has said he intends to stand again for parliament after losing his Gordon seat to the Tories at the general election.
The former First Minister, who had been at Westminster and Holyrood for 30 years and won nine elections before tasting defeat, said he was “not finished with politics” and predicted another election in around two years.
Asked on Sky News about a comeback, he said: "I’ve fought ten elections and won nine of them. I’d like to make it nine out of 11 or ten out of 11, rather than nine out of 10, let’s put it that way."
He said his political ambition remained “to secure independence for Scotland”.
The 62-year-old, who is moving into light entertainment next month with a show on the Edinburgh Fringe, said he was not tempted by a peerage.
“I can rule out the House of Lords. Of the other [parliaments], sometimes you just have to let political opportunities develop, particularly in some very uncertain times.
“As I said on election night, ‘you’ve not seen the last of my bunnet’”.
A Scottish Labour spokesperson said: “The only people who will be more dismayed by this news than Scots voters are the SNP ministers sitting around the Cabinet table. Alex Salmond has been a constant embarrassment for Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP. He risks becoming a laughing stock.”
Mr Salmond also told ITV’s Good Morning Britain he once received a “2am tirade” from Donald Trump after the US tycoon failed three times in court to block a windfarm near his Aberdeen golf course several years ago.
Mr Salmond said: “I probably didn’t help things by texting him ‘once, twice, three times a loser’. So I got one of these 2am tirades about being a ‘has-been’ and a ‘nobody’ and that was before I lost my seat.”
He said of his Fringe Show: “I’m not a standup comedian, but there are stories that you can tell and obviously there are more stories that you can tell out of office than you can in office.”
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