Nicola Sturgeon has publicly and irrevocably turned her back on Alex Salmond, saying he is now “somebody that I don’t want to have in my life”. 

The former first minister said a reconciliation with her predecessor was “not something that I want” and she felt “indifference” rather than anger towards him.

She said: “We don’t have long on this planet, we’ve got a limited amount of time to spend with people.  

“I want to spend the time I have with people who make me happy and who I like and who I enjoy spending time with.”

She also said it was “really sad” when former leaders tried to get their old jobs back.

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Earlier this week Mr Salmond said he hoped he and Ms Sturgeon, who have not talked since disputed sexual harassment claims emerged against him in 2018, would make up.

However, appearing on the Edinburgh Fringe in broadcaster Iain Dale’s All Talk show at the Pleasance EICC, Ms Sturgeon was crystal clear that it wouldn’t happen.

Asked about the Alba party’s leader’s comment, Ms Sturgeon said she would be “very surprised if he meant it”.

She went on: “What I’m about to say really doesn’t come from a place of anger, certainly not anymore - maybe in the last few years at different times this would have been different.

“It doesn’t come from a place of anger, it maybe comes from more a place of indifference actually than anger. 

“I don’t foresee that [a reconciliation]. It’s not something I want.

“I was very close to Alex for a long, long time. We achieved great things together. I’ll always be proud of that and I’m not trying to rewrite history here.

“But over recent years, I don’t know, he’s revealed himself to be somebody that I don’t want to have in my life, that I don’t particularly want to have a relationship with.

“I don’t judge anybody who takes a different view.

"But we don’t have long on this planet, we’ve got a limited amount of time to spend with people.  

“I want to spend the time I have with people who make me happy and who I like and who I enjoy spending time with.

“As I say, it doesn’t come from a place of anger anymore.

"I’ve gone through the whole spectrum of emotions with Alex over the last few years, and I’m now in a place where, yeah, there are other people I would rather spend time with.”

The remarks prompted intakes of breath around the nearly full auditorium.

Ms Sturgeon worked side by side with Mr Salmond for 10 years at the top of the SNP, acting as his running mate when he made a comeback as party leader in 2004.

After three years acting as his deputy at Holyrood, she became deputy first minister when the SNP took power in 2007, a position she held until replacing him as FM in 2014.

Earlier, without mentioning Mr Salmond by name, Ms Sturgeon also said it was “really sad” when former politicians pined after their old jobs and pretended they could make a comeback.

Asked if she might ever come back as First Minister, she gave an emphatic: “No!”

She said: “There’s something really sad about somebody who has done the kind of job I’ve done and then leaves the stage… I just don’t want to be the kind of former leader who’s always exuding this kind of sense of ‘I just wish I was back in the job’.

“I‘ve had my time as First Minister. It was the privilege of my life. I’ve had my time. I’m looking forward to the next phase of my life and doing different things.”