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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Scottish referendum: Salmond to go after Scotland No vote | Scottish referendum: Salmond to go after Scotland No vote |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Alex Salmond is to step down as first minister of Scotland after voters decisively rejected independence. | Alex Salmond is to step down as first minister of Scotland after voters decisively rejected independence. |
| He will also resign as leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) after the "No" side won Thursday's referendum by 2,001,926 to 1,617,989 for "Yes". | He will also resign as leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) after the "No" side won Thursday's referendum by 2,001,926 to 1,617,989 for "Yes". |
| The national split of the vote was 55% for "No" to 45% for "Yes". | The national split of the vote was 55% for "No" to 45% for "Yes". |
| Mr Salmond said: "For me as leader my time is nearly over but for Scotland the campaign continues and the dream shall never die." | Mr Salmond said: "For me as leader my time is nearly over but for Scotland the campaign continues and the dream shall never die." |
| Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister David Cameron told assembled media in Downing Street that the unionist Westminster parties would now deliver on their pledge of extra powers for the Scottish Parliament, following the referendum result. | |
| Across Scotland, the "No" vote had a majority in 28 of the country's 32 local authority areas. | |
| Dundee was the first area to back independence. On a turnout of 78.8%, "Yes" polled 53,620 votes to the "No" campaign's 39,880. | |
| Speaking from Bute House in Edinburgh, the first minister's official residence, Mr Salmond told journalists: "I am immensely proud of the campaign that Yes Scotland fought and particularly of the 1.6 million voters who rallied to that cause." | |
| Mr Salmond, 59, who has led his party for a total of 20 years, also said there were a "number of eminently qualified and very suitable candidates for leader", although the current deputy first minister Nicola Sturgeon, also deputy SNP leader, would be seen as a clear frontrunner. | Mr Salmond, 59, who has led his party for a total of 20 years, also said there were a "number of eminently qualified and very suitable candidates for leader", although the current deputy first minister Nicola Sturgeon, also deputy SNP leader, would be seen as a clear frontrunner. |
| Ms Sturgeon said she could "think of no greater privilege than to seek to lead the party I joined when I was just 16," but said she would not make an announcement today. | |
| She added: "Alex Salmond's achievements as SNP leader and Scotland's first minister are second to none. He led the SNP into government and has given our country a renewed self confidence." | |
| Mr Salmond said he would resign as SNP leader at the party's conference in November, and then stand down as first minister when the party elected its next leader following a ballot of members. | |
| But Mr Salmond said he would stay on as MSP for Aberdeenshire East, adding: "It has been the privilege of my life to serve Scotland as first minister. | But Mr Salmond said he would stay on as MSP for Aberdeenshire East, adding: "It has been the privilege of my life to serve Scotland as first minister. |
| "But, as I said often during the referendum campaign, this is not about me or the SNP. It is much more important than that. | "But, as I said often during the referendum campaign, this is not about me or the SNP. It is much more important than that. |
| "The position is this. We lost the referendum vote but can still carry the political initiative. More importantly Scotland can still emerge as the real winner." | "The position is this. We lost the referendum vote but can still carry the political initiative. More importantly Scotland can still emerge as the real winner." |
| Mr Salmond also used his statement to question the pledge made by Prime Minister David Cameron and the leaders of the other pro-Union parties to deliver legislation on more devolved powers for the Scottish Parliament. | Mr Salmond also used his statement to question the pledge made by Prime Minister David Cameron and the leaders of the other pro-Union parties to deliver legislation on more devolved powers for the Scottish Parliament. |
| Referendum reaction | |
| "We now have the opportunity to hold Westminster's feet to the fire on the 'vow' that they have made to devolve further meaningful power to Scotland," he said. | |
| "This places Scotland in a very strong position. | |
| "I spoke to the prime minister today and, although he reiterated his intention to proceed as he has outlined, he would not commit to a second reading vote (in the House of Commons) by 27th March on a Scotland Bill. | "I spoke to the prime minister today and, although he reiterated his intention to proceed as he has outlined, he would not commit to a second reading vote (in the House of Commons) by 27th March on a Scotland Bill. |
| "That was a clear promise laid out by Gordon Brown during the campaign. | "That was a clear promise laid out by Gordon Brown during the campaign. |
| "The prime minister says such a vote would be meaningless. I suspect he cannot guarantee the support of his party." | "The prime minister says such a vote would be meaningless. I suspect he cannot guarantee the support of his party." |
| Mr Cameron said the Westminster parties would ensure commitments on new Scottish parliament powers were "honoured in full". | |
| He announced that Lord Smith of Kelvin, who led Glasgow's staging of the Commonwealth Games, would oversee the process to take forward the commitments, with new powers over tax, spending and welfare to be agreed by November, and draft legislation published by January. | |
| Mr Cameron added: "Now the debate has been settled for a generation, or as Alex Salmond has said: 'Perhaps for a lifetime'. | |
| "So there can be no disputes, no re-runs; we have heard the will of the Scottish people." | |
| What the 'No' vote means at home and abroad | |
| The prime minister also spoke of the implications for the other nations of the UK. | |
| Mr Cameron said "millions of voices of England must also be heard". | |
| "The question of English votes for English laws, the so-called West Lothian question, requires a decisive answer so just as Scotland will vote separately in the Scottish Parliament on their issues on tax, spending and welfare, so too England as well as Wales and Northern Ireland should be able to vote on these issues. | |
| "And all this must take place in tandem with and at the same pace as the settlement for Scotland." | |
| On referendum night, Glasgow, Scotland's largest council area and the third largest city in Britain, voted in favour of independence by 194,779 to 169,347, although turnout was lower than in other areas at 75%. | |
| West Dunbartonshire also gave its backing to independence, voting 54% to 46% in favour, with North Lanarkshire completing the "Yes" quartet by 51% to 49%. | |
| In Scotland's 28 other local authority areas, it was a night of huge disappointment for the pro-independence movement. | |
| Hoped for breakthroughs in other traditional Labour strongholds such as South Lanarkshire, Inverclyde and across Ayrshire never materialised. | |
| Edinburgh, the nation's capital, clearly rejected independence by 194,638 to 123,927 votes, while Aberdeen City voted "No" by a margin of more than 20,000 votes. | |
| Mr Salmond's successor as first minister would need to be confirmed in a vote of the Scottish Parliament. | Mr Salmond's successor as first minister would need to be confirmed in a vote of the Scottish Parliament. |