Former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has died at 69, according to statements from Scotland’s main political parties and UK media reports. Salmond was taken ill while in North Macedonia, collapsing after delivering a speech on Saturday,

Alex Salmond, who died on Saturday aged 69, was for years the figurehead of Scottish independence, a wily political operator who divided opinion as he took the nationalist movement from the political fringes to the mainstream.

Scottish former First Minister Alex Salmond has died. Salmond championed Scotland’s independence from the U.K.