Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond, known as Alex Salmond (born December 31, 1954, Linlithgow), is the First Minister of Scotland, heading a minority government.

He is leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), Member of Parliament for the constituency of Banff and Buchan, and the Member of the Scottish Parliament for Gordon. He is currently serving his second term as leader of the SNP, taking over from John Swinney. He had previously been leader between 1990 and 2000.

The SNP won the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, with 47 seats - one seat ahead of their nearest rivals, the Scottish Labour Party. On 16 May 2007, Alex Salmond was nominated successfully to become First Minister, heading a minority SNP administration.