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Salmond quits after losing referendum vote

Alex Salmond stunned Scotland today by announcing his resignation as first minister and SNP leader after voters rejected his vision of an independent nation.

Mr Salmond said that Scotland could still “emerge the real winner” from yesterday’s referendum despite the 55-45 per cent vote against a split, but he felt that it was time for somebody else to lead the country through that process.

He said that Scotland’s leader had to “hold Westminster’s feet to the fire” over promises for the further devolution of powers promised by party leaders last week. He said that David Cameron was already backtracking over the timetable laid out by Gordon Brown and said that wider political splits were apparent between the Tories and Labour.

“For me right now there