The last hurrah: Salmond hails record of achievement in Government during final FMQs

But Mr Salmond, who stands down as SNP leader at his party's conference tomorrow and will formally leave government next week, said Labour in Scotland was "destined for destruction" as a result of its alliance with the Conservatives in the referendum campaign.

Hours after the result of the independence referendum was declared, Mr Salmond announced he would be quitting both as party leader and First Minister.

Today he was challenged on his record by opposition leaders as he took centre stage at First Minister's Questions for the 215th and final time.

With the Labour Party in Scotland without a leader at the moment in the wake of Johann Lamont's sudden resignation, he was questioned first by Jackie Baillie.

The Labour MSP said: "Today does mark the end of an era. No-one can deny Alex Salmond's passion for Scotland, nobody can deny his love for his country.

"But the real tragedy is that he was so blinkered by his passion for independence that the powers he already has, powers to tackle poverty, reduce inequality, to deliver social justice, were pushed into second place."

She added: "Is it not the case that his real legacy is leaving Scotland more divided than ever?"

Mr Salmond told her: "I think the administration has had a substantial record of achievement over these last seven years.

"But in many ways it doesn't matter what I think of it, it surely is what the people of Scotland think about it.

"If I could remind Jackie Baillie this government was elected with an overall majority in a proportional parliament."

Following recent opinion polls which have given the SNP the lead over Labour in both Holyrood and Westminster voting intentions, he said there were also "more recent indications this support seems to be growing, not diminishing".

He continued: "I think there have been substantial achievements - if I could name but two, the reintroduction of free higher education in Scotland and, looking forward, the introduction of free school meals in primaries one to three, I think that's a substantial move forward."

Mr Salmond has faced various Labour leaders over his time as First Minister - including Wendy Alexander, Iain Gray and Ms Lamont - but he said there had been a "continuing failure" from the party to "establish or to even redress the decline, the collapse in its fortune".

He told Ms Baillie: "If I could offer her one piece of advice, which she could translate to her leader, whoever that may be: People in Scotland no longer know what the Labour Party stands for but they do know who they stood with in the referendum campaign.

"Any political party in alliance with the Tory Party is destined for destruction in Scotland and that is exactly what is happening."

Ms Baillie had begun her questioning of the First Minister by asking him to describe himself in just one word

He refused, telling her: "No. One word seems hardly adequate for that task."

Mr Salmond will be succeeded as First Minister by his deputy Nicola Sturgeon, who takes on the job next week.

Ms Baillie said it was "interesting that he didn't use the word proud, because if I were him I wouldn't be entirely proud of this government's record either".

She hit out at the SNP, saying its administration had resulted in "teacher numbers down, college places down, NHS bed numbers down, waiting times up".

She added that independence had been Mr Salmond's "life's ambition", adding: "He spent millions of taxpayers' money on the referendum, he put Scotland on pause and despite a divided UK coalition he still lost by 400,000 votes.

"So, he's going and the person who actually ran the Yes campaign, Nicola Sturgeon, actually gets the keys to Bute House."

But she claimed: "Her record in government is not too clever either, child poverty is growing, fuel poverty is growing, housebuilding at its lowest level since World War II."

Ms Baillie also argued that as the current First Minister and Deputy First Minister are "joined at the hip", the change of leadership would "actually make very little difference".

With Ms Sturgeon taking over next week, the Labour MSP pressed Mr Salmond on who he thought should be in her cabinet.

She offered her own suggestions as to who Ms Sturgeon should "keep out", proposing Education Secretary Mike Russell "for failing Scotland's young people", Health Secretary Alex Neil for "failing Scotland's patients" and Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill "for the many failings that appear on his charge sheet".

Ms Baillie asked Mr Salmond: "Given their record of failure, which members of his cabinet would he recommend keep their jobs when his deputy takes over?"

The First Minister told her: "Over the years the Labour Party have called for the resignation of each and every one of my cabinet secretaries. The only person they haven't called upon to resign is me, and I'm the one who is resigning."

He added: "All in all, I think I would rather stand here as First Minister, albeit departing, than the 10th leader or caretaker leader who has faced me over this despatch box."

Conservative leader Ruth Davidson also attacked Mr Salmond on his record in government, saying it "falls well short of his own claims".

She said: "In Scotland our levels of educational attainment are stagnating, there is no improvement in reducing reconviction rates among offenders, the gap in research and development funding between Scotland and other European nations is as big as ever, and people's satisfaction with their public services is worsening."

The First Minister responded, saying there had been "substantial achievements in both education and health".

"People's respect for the health service is increasing, which I think is a fantastic testament in these times of austerity," he said.

"Educational attainment in Scotland is rising, not falling. The successful introduction of Curriculum for Excellence gives us great hope for the future."

Ms Davidson said: "It is interesting that he challenged the facts that I read to him earlier on all of these areas of policy, because it turns out I was only reading his own Government's assessment of his own Government's performance, as contained in the Scottish Government's report card, called Scotland Performs."

Ms Davidson said the report, which "provides a snapshot of how the Government is doing", showed that of 11 key targets, "only two show any performance improvement whatsoever".

"On the other hand, raising economic growth to the UK level - performance worsening, matching GDP growth rate of small EU countries - performance worsening, productivity - performance worsening, healthy life expectancy - performance worsening," she said.

"These are the measures which the First Minister set up on which to judge his devolved administration, and he has failed. For seven years he has stood there and said, only with the powers of independence, but the people of Scotland looked at that plan too, and they said that his performance wasn't up to much either."

Mr Salmond said that over the period since 2007, there have been "substantial rises in the vast majority of the indices" within Scotland Performs.

He went on to draw comparisons between UK and Scottish economic growth, stating that the UK Chancellor has revised UK statistics, and had included the so-called "black economy" and the charitable sector.

"As a result (he) managed to inflate the UK growth figures," he said.

" And what happened? They were then surprised when they were landed a £1.7 billion bill from the European Union.

"It is not surprising to any of us that the Tory party depend on their record by including the black economy in the figures."

Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie demanded to know if Mr Salmond was really going following his U-turn on standing as SNP leader in 2004.

Mr Rennie said: "It's been a long journey since the days of 2004 when he rejected standing for his party's leadership.

"He said: 'If nominated, I'll decline. If drafted, I'll defer and if elected, I'll resign'. Can I just check that he definitely is going?"

Mr Salmond said: "I was actually quoting the wrong American general, I meant to quote General MacArthur: 'I shall return'."

Ms Sturgeon urged Mr Salmond to answer the question.

Mr Salmond said: "This is the first time I have been heckled by the SNP and told to answer the question."

Mr Salmond went on to caution Mr Rennie about the Liberal Democrats' alliance with the Conservatives with a tale about former Scottish Secretary John Scott Maclay, the last member of a Liberal Party splinter group that merged with the Conservatives in the mid-20th Century.

He said: "One of the first things I found in Bute House in the oldest cupboard was a silver tray which had been presented to the Rt Hon John Scott Maclay on the occasion of the inauguration of the Forth Road Bridge in 1958.

"John Scott Maclay was not a Conservative, he was the last of the National Liberals appointed by Harold Macmillan to that place and I am told by senior civil servants that he used to go about St Andrews House saying: 'I have made a decision - I shall now go and consult the Conservative Party.'

"But there is, is there not, a moral tale in the Rt Hon John Scott Maclay as a National Liberal in alliance with the Conservative Party who was the last of his kind."