Alex Salmond will be "shaken to his foundations" when voters thwart his hopes of returning to Westminster in the General Election, a veteran Liberal Democrat has said.
Sir Malcom Bruce, who currently holds the Gordon seat that Mr Salmond is contesting, branded the former first minister "presumptuous" and said it would be a "nightmare" if he was voted in on May 7.
Sir Malcolm is standing down at this election, after representing the area for 32 years, with the Lib Dem candidate Christine Jardine hoping to succeed him as MP.
The Scottish Liberal Democrat party president pointed out that in last year's referendum people in Gordon had voted against independence by "nearly two to one" and added he believed people in the constituency would reject Mr Salmond.
After the former SNP leader published his referendum memoirs The Dream Shall Never Die, Sir Malcolm said: "Christine and I are determined to ensure that his dreams in Gordon are ended on May 7 and that the people of Gordon are spared the nightmare of Alex Salmond treading the boards of a Westminster parliament he despises and claiming to represent them."
He added: "He says he wants to shake Westminster to the foundations. Yet, everything he came into politics to achieve has been rejected here in the North East and I believe local people will reject him too. He will be shaken to his foundations. I know for sure Christine will serve the people of Gordon far, far better than he ever could."
Sir Malcolm insisted his party, as part of the coalition government at Westminster, had delivered for Scotland.
As he addressed the Scottish Liberal Democrat conference in Aberdeen he said: "Liberal Democrats have shown we are not just a reliable party of government but can deliver radical, Liberal policies from inside government.
"Scotland and the UK are in a far better place than we could or would have been without our place at the heart of a government."
In the forthcoming election he said the Liberal Democrats would be "the voice of reason, reform and responsibility - against the forces of division, despair and defeatism".
Sir Malcolm added: "Neither Labour nor the Conservatives have earned the right to govern on their own. The Liberal Democrats whose MPs represent, urban, rural and island constituencies from the Scillies to Shetland have shown themselves competent and effective as a party of Government.
"If you want the next Parliament to be focused on division and uncertainty you can vote SNP, Ukip or Green. If you want the next Parliament to sustain a stable government based on sound public finances, fair taxes, low inflation, growth and jobs - a Parliament that will present a United Kingdom delivering opportunity for all while offering a beacon of democratic resilience to the world then that Parliament needs strong, Liberal Democrat representation.
"Liberal Democrat ministers have delivered for Scotland. It has been of enormous benefit to Scotland that Scottish Liberal Democrats have played a key role in government.
"The outcome of this election may be uncertain but the one thing the people of Scotland know is that Liberal Democrats won't make their priority to disrupt Westminster. Liberal Democrats want to go on delivering for Scotland. That is why Scotland needs Liberal Democrats to win every seat we currently hold - and some."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article