Alex Salmond could have been a "wise head" for the SNP and should have been persuaded not to resign suddenly in the wake of the independence referendum, according to former Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont.

Ms Lamont revealed her shock when she learnt Mr Salmond announcing he was standing down as SNP leader and First Minister just a day after the Yes side was defeated in the independence referendum.

Ms Lamont was Scottish Labour leader during the campaign and at the time of the vote tendering her own resignation on October 2014.

In an interview with The Herald she paid tribute to her "old sparring partner" - who she quizzed weekly at First Ministers Questions - as she reflected on his sudden death last weekend in North Macedonia at the age of 69 and said his party could have managed his resignation as First Minister better and given him a role which respected his achievements.

"It's obviously a personal loss for his family and for the people who cared deeply about him," Ms Lamont told the Herald on Sunday as the 10th anniversary of her own resignation approaches next Thursday.

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"You can see the nationalist family coming together. He was for them a symbol of what they could have done, of what was possible. To have got to a point where Scotland had to make a decision [on independence] was largely down to him.

"He had a grip on the party, he was able to enforce discipline, he told them 'don't indulge yourselves, there is a goal here'. I think he made his party very focussed and disciplined."

She added: "I am not sure why as soon as the referendum was over he decided he would stand down. I don't know if there was pressure on him to do so.

Former Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont pictured in Holyrood in 2014. (Image: Gordon Terris)

"But perhaps the party needed his experience? His party should have said the people don't want independence yet, let's make devolution work and we have a job to do to run the country.

"I think the post referendum landscape would have benefitted from having someone who would have said 'we will make this work'. Instead what we got was 'you should have voted for Yes'. Alex Salmond always insisted the Scottish Government needed to be competent in order to be credible."

Ms Lamont said she believed Mr Salmond "was looking for a new role" after he stepped down as First Minister and she believed the party should have found a position for him which "respected his achievements" and not "perceived as a bit of a threat".

She told The Herald: "Not necessarily a grandee role but a role which respected his experience rather than the situation becoming a bit of a conflict or him being perceived a bit of a threat.

Nicola Sturgeon pictured in November 2014 as she is officially sworn in as Scotland's First Minister in the Court of Session, Edinburgh. Photo: Ciaran Donnelly.

"It is a lesson for all parties. 'How do you deal with folk who have moved on but were really important? I think he could have been 'a wise head' for them."

Referring to Mr Salmond's resignation announcement on September 19, she added: "I could be wrong but when he stood down as SNP leader and First Minister in 2014 you rather felt he was being pressed to do that."

"People say don't make major decisions in a crisis. I think someone should have said to him 'don't make this decision.' He was the person more than anyone else who got them to the place where they had the referendum. He deserved somebody saying to him 'don't make any decisions now. We are disappointed. You're deeply disappointed.' Could it have been that even if he was going to stand down, the transition could have been calmer.

"What could he do for the party without being First Minister - this could have been a longer conversation. 2014 was a huge achievement to get there. But post referendum that you don't get a sense there was a proper process in the party about managing the next stage of his life."

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In a BBC documentary to mark the 10th anniversary of the independence referendum on September 18 2014, Ms Sturgeon said she tried to convince Mr Salmond to stay on as First Minister following the win for the Pro-UK side.

But in a separate interview for ITV Border Mr Salmond said he made a ‘mistake’ in standing down as First Minister immediately after losing the 2014 independence referendum.

He said leaving Bute House was ‘a daft thing to do’, claiming ‘manifest opportunities’ to advance the independence cause had been missed.

His claims then brought a sharp response from his successor Ms Sturgeon, who told us: "Nobody has a greater conceit of Alex Salmond than Alex Salmond."

Ms Lamont's comments though that Mr Salmond could have been a "wise head" for the SNP following his exit as First Minister will strike a chord with some of his allies in the party, including the MSP Fergus Ewing and the former SNP MP Joanna Lamont - both of whom said last week he had been poorly treated by the party.  Mr Salmond continued as an elected representative for the party until he lost his Westminster seat of Gordon in 2017.

His chief of staff Geoff Aberdein last month said he had advised the former First Minister not to stand in the 2015 election, telling the BBC documentary Salmond and Sturgeon: A Troubled Union that he suggested to Mr Salmond at the time:  "Go out on top. You could be that kind of statesman figure once removed the party. You could do the odd Question Time if you wanted to and come in and help out the party when it needed you the most."

Meanwhile, the last few months have seen a change in the fortunes of the SNP and Labour.

Scottish Labour took 37 seats on July 4 - an increase of 36 from the 2019 election - while the SNP were reduced from 48 to nine, losing all its seats in Glasgow and across the central belt of Scotland.

Turning to the current political landscape, Ms Lamont was optimistic that Labour could return to power in Holyrood in 2026.

The former teacher, who was Scottish Labour leader from 2011 to 2014 and stood down as an MSP in, said the party faced a tough battle ahead.

"There is an optimism there, a possibility there, but it will be tough," she said.

"The worst thing would just be to think it is going to happen. One thing we have learned is the scale of the volatility of the vote.

"The usual view is there are safe seats on either side and you target your marginals. Well certainly in Scottish politics I don't think there is such thing as a safe seat for anybody.

"It means politics is very interesting. You have to go and work for every single vote.

"One thing you can say about Labour is that we are not complacent. There is an understanding that voters are willing to shift their vote."

She was glad post Covid to see a shift away for the constitution as a dominant concern in Scottish political debate and a renewed focus on the jobs and the economy and the delivery of frontline services such as the NHS and education.

"Labour needs to speak to the things that people care about, the health system, the care system, an economy that is fair, education. The long term consequences of neglecting education is massive," she said.

"We have to be serious, respectful and understanding of what people have been through. We have to make a commitment to what I would call the heavy lifting.

"It's the easiest thing in the world to hold up a pledge card. We've had government by pledge card by far too long. The pledge card says 'I really care about children'. But don't ask me whether anything I have done has worked."

"We are spending a fortune on baby boxes. Do we know if any child is healthier or safer as a result? And that at the same time as we reduce health visitors or social workers who may spot a child is being neglected."

Ms Lamont stood by her comments made in 2014 accusing UK Labour of treating Scottish Labour as a "branch office".

It followed the UK party making decisions relating to the Scottish party without her input and of advancing a strategy that may have suited  the UK party but not Scottish Labour post devolution.

The description was seized on by the SNP to constantly attack Scottish Labour.

"If they didn't use that they would have used something else to attack us," said Ms Lamont when asked by The Herald if she regretted the description.

However, she went on to say that the accusation did change the UK party's way of thinking about Scotland and Scottish Labour.

"It was said because it related to a lack of understanding about the political context in Scotland. How did we make sure there was an understanding by the party at the centre that their messages and their political campaign which made sense in some parts of the country didn't make sense in Scotland," she said.

"The question that was raised.. if you believe in devolving power...you can't have a one-size-fits all political strategy."

She added: "I was honest in what I was saying and I think I was reflecting a political challenge. I think the Labour Party understands that challenge now."