Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Alex Salmond Interviews: Helicopter rides, Bonnie Dundee and handing over to ‘Sexy Socialism’

The Salmonds heading home after the referendum result.
The Salmonds heading home after the referendum result.

Newly-resigned from his job as First Minister, Alex Salmond posted the image on Twitter as he and Moira flew back home to Strichen, with a message thanking everyone for their kind messages of support.

While David Cameron usually has Sam by his side and Tony Blair was barely seen without Cherie, Mrs Salmond has never shared the same desire for publicity.

She once said that she married Alex “not politics” and that she was happy to remain in the background.

Mr Salmond is clearly devoted to his wife, ensuring he keeps her updated with his movements throughout our two days together and what time he will be home.

His usual no-nonsense, straight-talking demeanour instantly melts when he speaks about her; his voice and his eyes soften.

He said it was only fair that he sign off with Moira by his side, to thank her for the unwavering, insightful support she has always given him.

* For the final instalment of the Alex Salmond Interviews, see Saturday’s Courier

“She also insisted on being in the picture,” he jokes. “But seriously being a political spouse is probably the worst job in the world. I think being First Minister is the best job in the world, but being the spouse you get none of the glory and all of the intrusion.

“Moira has done it all with grace and forbearance, which I’m very grateful for.

“She said to me on the morning I resigned: ‘You do what your instinct tells you your instinct is always right’.

“None of this I would have ever done unless Moira was supportive of it.”

Mr Salmond’s official resignation might have been complete, but he realised during the journey home that there was another signing-off to take care of.

“There’s a hilarious spoof site on Twitter called Angry Salmond, which goes under the hashtag ‘Sexy Socialism’,” he laughs, encouraging everyone and anyone to look it up.

“People assume it’s me, but it’s not I have no idea who it is.

“I tweeted Angry Salmond a message saying: ‘I’m off, you take over’. Angry Salmond whoever he or she may be said: ‘This is surreal, my spoof has tweeted my site.”

As the couple continued their journey north over Scotland flown by Canadian Air Force pilot Johnny Hydro: “a man that can land a helicopter anywhere” Mr Salmond took advantage of a precious few moments away from the media glare to reflect on the past 24 hours.

“As we flew over Dundee something came to me, the Burns re-written song about Bonnie Dundee,” he says, with a mischievous twinkle in his eye that suggests he’s up to something.

“There’ a line in it: ‘So tremble, false Whigs, in the midst o’ your glee, For ye’ve naw seen the last o’ my bonnets and me’.

“I thought it was apt.”

Back on solid ground, the Salmonds headed for the Marcliffe Hotel a regular haunt owned by good friend Stewart Spence for a well-deserved bite to eat.

There they received a message from their gardener, warning them a media scrum had congregated outside their Strichen home and that the village was “teaming with folk”.

Desperate for a chance to breathe, the couple made a detour to Meldrum House for the night.

“On the Saturday I came back to Strichen, I sat on the wall outside the house and did an impromptu press conference. I said: ‘On you go in, Moira, and I’ll do a picture’,” he cackles.

It was the laugh of a man who knew that the games had only just begun.