Here's the full text of Alex Salmond's last speech to an SNP conference as party leader.

Friends, As I stand here before you today:

- The Scottish National Party has a massive lead in the polls at both Holyrood and Westminster.

- As of this morning we now have 85,101 members.

- And we have contributed to what is now widely recognised as the most empowering democratic process these islands have ever witnessed.

I feel a bit like Mark Twain who was most amused to arrive in London to newspaper billboards proclaiming at the top "Mark Twain Arrives" and at the bottom - "Gold Cup Stolen"

In Edinburgh the other week I saw a billboard which read "Alex Salmond Leaves" - and at the bottom "SNP Membership Trebles!"

As I look out on each and every one of you, and think of the 1.6 million people who stood with us on 18th September 2014, let me start by saying simply this:

THANK YOU.

Thank you for believing in a better country.

Thank you for working to persuade that 1.6 million.

Thank you for transforming this nation.

The referendum YES vote was 45 per cent not 55 per cent but let us proclaim what each of us now knows with a greater certainty than ever before;

Scotland WILL become an independent nation.

I want to affirm what we achieved together on the 18th of September 2014.

Because whilst we lost that vote, we also won a great deal.

At various times in our national history Scotland has managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

This time out of defeat will come future success.

The 18th September will come to be seen as the day Scotland started to take control of our own destiny.

It was a day of empowerment. Of engagement. Of confidence.

It reawakened in millions of Scots a sense of purpose

It ended - forever - the top down politics of the past and ushered in a new era of engaged politics - the envy of the democratic world.

So regardless of 'Yes' and 'No' let us all agree that from the 18th September the clear winner can be Scotland.

Why? Because despite everything that the Westminster establishment threw at Scotland, , the fears , the smears, the lies and the scares, 45% of the people - 1.6 million women and men living and working in Scotland - chose hope over fear.

A much higher number than any of our opponents ever thought possible when we started this campaign.

And after the referendum those same opponents believed that Scotland had been quietened, that we'd had our day in the sun and we should be politely put back in our box.

They thought it was all over… well it isn't now.

For Scotland all has changed and changed utterly.

Because of the 55% who voted 'no', many did so on the last minute promise of radical constitutional reform within the Union.

Be in no doubt - without that last gasp concession the No Campaign would have had its just deserts.

Without that desperate vow of maximum devolution, Scotland would already be in a process of becoming independent.

A cynical ploy? A last minute bribe? Certainly.

A desperate response to a Yes campaign which was gaining such ground? Absolutely.

But for many it was enough to convince them to give the Union one more drink in the last chance saloon.

For some it was the argument for saying NOT YET rather than YES.

As a democrat, I respect that decision, but conference let me tell you this.

If the Westminster gang reneges on the pledges made in the campaign - they will discover that Hell hath no fury like this nation scorned.

Gordon Brown had a brief cameo as leader of Better Together. Gordon Brown - the man with credibility who stood surety for the VOW of the Three Amigos who have none.

Let us remember his words 'We're going to be, within a year or two, as close to a federal state as you can be…."

He pledged 'home rule' -his words not mine. That is now the yardstick by which the Smith Commission will be measured.

And each of the parties in that Commission needs to understand one thing very clearly -Scotland expects the VOW to be redeemed.

Of course Labour and Tory will try to renege on commitments to Scotland.

The Prime Minister will try to renege. That's what Tory Prime Ministers do.

Westminster Labour will try to renege. That's why Johann Lamont called them "dinosaurs."

But let no-one imagine that the collective will of the Scottish people will be defeated - not now, not ever.

That of course poses a real challenge for this party too. How we carry ourselves after a defeat is every bit as important as how we celebrate our victories.

The nation expected us to accept the referendum result with dignity and grace. As democrats, we did so.

But it also expects us to champion the Scottish national interest in the vital months and years to come.

As Scottish patriots we will.

That's why we meet as a party invigorated as never before. Far from reflecting on what might have been, we are focused on what now must be.

Our job is incomplete.Our role is clear. First, last and always this party will argue Scotland's cause.

Delegates - It is worth reflecting on the remarkable journey of our party, our Government and our nation.

Twenty four years ago I was elected as leader of the SNP just across the road at the City Hall. The SNP had four MPs in a Parliament of 650.

It was a different time. I didn't need to diet!

The country in the grip of high Thatcherism and the prospect of even a Scottish Assembly seemed a distant dream.

Now we have 72 parliamentarians across three Parliaments.

We have more councillors than any other party, we have won the last two European elections and we hold the majority in our national Parliament.

CONFERENCE, LET US NOW SET A TARGET OF WINNING OUR FIRST UK GENERAL ELECTION IN SCOTLAND.

Ten years ago when I was re-elected in a partnership leadership with Nicola the SNP had 8,000 members.

We now have ten times that number, ready and willing to pick up the gauntlet for Scotland.

WE HAVE NEVER BEEN AN ORDINARY POLITICAL PARTY. NOW WE ARE AN EXTRAORDINARY ONE WITH A GREAT TASK TO BE COMPLETED.

Next week our Conference re-convenes in the Hydro Arena in Glasgow - the largest ever political Conference across these islands.

We are a party renewed. Let us resolve to involve each and every member in the work that lies before us. In the selection of candidates, in the election to come.

And let us be open and generous - to allow some shining stars of the YES movement to stand under the SNP banner reflecting the historic shift that has taken place.

The groups that emerged from the grassroots were wonderful - Women for Independence, Business for Scotland, National Collective and many many more.

LET US EMBRACE THEM AS CANDIDATES AND ASK PEOPLE A SIMPLE QUESTION. WHO WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE REPRESENTING THE NATION?

THE NEW PEOPLE WHO AWOKE THE NATIONAL SPIRIT OR THE OLD WESTMINSTER PARTIES WHO HAVE DONE THEIR BEST TO BREAK IT?

And let us set ourselves a target. Let us select our candidates from the best that Scotland has to offer and send them into battle with an army of activists. Our Party has tripled in size but it can grow further yet.

LET US ENSURE THAT BY NEXT MAY'S ELECTION THE SNP REACHES A LEVEL WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE IN SCOTTISH POLITICS. 100,000 MEMBERS REPRESENTING THE NATIONAL CAUSE.

And so this party has changed but so has the governance of Scotland. It also has changed utterly.

Twenty four years ago the Lord Lang was Secretary of State. The poll tax was still in place. Ravenscraig was about to be closed - a party with no mandate ruled the roost - both de-socialising and deindustrialising Scotland.

Ten years ago we had gained a Parliament but it was run by a coalition devoid of any vision to strike an independent course.

The "Executive" didn't even have the guts to call themselves a government!

Alas poor government afraid even to speak their own name!

In these days Labour were run as a "branch office" of London - plus ca change!

But seven years later the entire governance of Scotland has been transformed.

I don't stand before you today and claim everything is perfect. How could it be in austerity Britain.

Scotland, like all countries, faces great challenges and there is plenty work to be done - but I have been proud to lead this government with a record of achievement:

• During a time of extraordinary economic pressure we have saved the average family £1200 by freezing the Council Tax.

• We have put 1000 extra police officers on our streets and crime is a at 40 year low.

• We slashed business rates allowing 96,000 small and medium enterprises the length and breadth of our country the opportunity to thrive.

• Despite the privatisation agenda south of the border we have protected Scotland's NHS ensuring a service that has remained in public hands.

• And delegates - as someone who grew up in a council house in Linlithgow and went on to be educated without charge at St Andrew's University - I'm proud to have led a Government when the rocks did not melt with the sun, where tuition fees were abolished and the right to free education was restored to Scotland's young people.

All this, friends, is thanks to a financial magician at the heart of Government - Let's hear it for a man who it has been my privilege to work alongside - Scotland's Merlin - John Swinney - the only Finance Minister in Europe who has successfully operated a balanced budget.

Through the years of recession we have sought to protect the social fabric of Scotland. We understand the basic wisdom of Adam Smith that,

No society can be flourishing and happy of which the greater part of its number are poor and miserable".

And thus, we acted to protect the people from the injustice of the bedroom tax.

We retained the Educational Maintenance Allowance to support youngsters from poorer backgrounds to stay in education.

We acted with local government to protect 500,000 low-income Scots from increases in their Council Tax.

We introduced a progressive land transaction tax to replace the discredited stamp duty demonstrating how to combine economic efficiency and equity.

But one of our finest measures is the living wage - introduced into the teeth of recession in 2011.

We acted to introduce the living wage - shortly to move to £7.85p an hour - for the public sector in Scotland.

A FAIR DAY'S PAY FOR A FAIR DAY'S WORK

Conference, in politics actions speak louder than words and this party should be immensely proud of its record.

WHAT HAS REALLY CHANGED IN RECENT YEARS IS OUR COUNTRY AND SCOTLAND'S PERCEPTION OF ITSELF. THAT HAS CHANGED AND CHANGED UTTERLY.

Twenty Four years ago we were locked in the Tory trap. Ten years ago most Scots still looked to Labour for salvation.

Now we understand that the solution will not come from on high, but from within.

Delegates, in the midst of the Commonwealth Games I witnessed something wonderful - not just the commitment and skill of our athletes although there was plenty of that

Not just the determination to host the best Commonwealth Games in history although we did achieve exactly that.

Not even the friendship of thousands of people from 70 countries and territories around the globe although we all experienced that.

What I witnessed in Glasgow one day during the Games was an excerpt of a Scottish Youth Theatre production of a play called NOW'S THE HOUR. This involved youngsters imagining and reading letters written today to their future selves about the decisions that Scotland was to make this year.

I only saw an excerpt but that play touched the very essence of what this year has been about - indeed it touched the very heart of what Scotland is now about .

And in another play TIN FOREST they included 90 performers from 10 Commonwealth countries.

In our glittering games the Scottish Youth Theatre were one of the true stars of the show.

Now the Youth Theatre is in financial difficulty and we cannot in conscience have that, indeed I just won't have that.

And therefore Conference I am delighted to announce that , working with Creative Scotland and with generous private sector support from one of our greatest companies Clyde Blowers, the Scottish Government will provide £1 million pounds over the next three years to secure the future of the Scottish Youth Theatre

Friends We have come a long way but we have a step further still to travel.

It must be infuriating for our unionist opponents to see us lose the referendum and then go on to prosper. They are totally disorientated

They cannot understand what on earth is going on.

The reason is actually quite simple. For us the referendum for us was never about party - it was always about country.

And because we understand that most people - YES voters and NO voters want to see the country prosper we are trusted by most voters to do just that.

Advancing the Scottish national interest is what we do - it's in this party's DNA.

So starting now and until we have secured for Scotland what we were promised our job is to hold Westminster's feet to the fire

And that is why voting SNP is more important than ever.

And the YES vote we shall ask for in May next year will be a simple one.

Yes to the devolution of job creating powers, social security, broadcasting, pensions and much else besides

Yes to a Parliament with real control of Scotland's finances.

Yes - above all - to the presumption that those who live and work here are best placed to run our own affairs

The UK parties should be in no doubt - give Scots the power we demand, or Scotland will vote to take it.

We should remember that consistency doesn't come easily to the Unionist parties. After all, so much of what was said by our opponents during the referendum has already been abandoned.

Before the referendum it was claimed there was no threat to Scotland's funding from Tory privatisation of the NHS south of the border.

Now Ed Miliband says the very future of the NHS will be on the ballot paper at the next UK election.

Of course Ed himself may or may not be on the ballot paper!

Then there is Europe.

Something quite astonishing has happened to the status of the outgoing president of the European Commission - Jose Manuel Barroso.

Before the referendum he was the all-powerful voice of Europe setting out unchallengeable truths on the impossibility of Scottish independence.Now, it seems that wasn't quite right!

Mr Barroso recently said that Mr Cameron's plan for the EU to abandon free movement of labour wouldn't work.

And would you believe it, according to the Tories poor Mr Barroso - the once omnipotent authority - is a mere "unelected Eurocrat", a man not to be taken seriously.

If only we'd been told before September!

Before the referendum we were told Scotland's vast renewable energy resources were not needed by the UK.

Now we're told UK electricity capacity is at a seven-year low and the people of England are facing brown outs and perhaps black outs.

And have you noticed delegates how many new oil fields have suddenly have been discovered in the North Sea!

The truth is this - for Labour and Tory desperate times called for desperate measures. Rattled by the Yes campaign the unionist parties were prepared to say and do anything to preserve the status quo.

As Scotland dared to dream, Labour offered nothing but nightmares.

When Scotland was alive with ideas and debate - all Labour could demonstrate was timidity and fear.

The next Labour leader in Scotland inherits an intellectually bankrupt and politically hollow organisation.

Johann Lamont deserves praise for her honesty in confirming what we all knew - that Scottish Labour was treated by London Labour as a 'branch office'

And why should the people of Scotland care about that? Let me tell you.

Because Johann Lamont has also revealed that at a time when Scottish politicians should have been standing together, presenting a united Scottish front against the Tory bedroom tax, she was silenced for a year awaiting permission from Ed Miliband to speak out.

A Labour Party that needs permission to speak out against the bedroom tax isn't a Labour Party at all and a branch office is not a Scottish Labour Party.

And the Labour Party in Scotland are already paying the price for standing shoulder to shoulder with the Tories.

So reduced have they become that rather than rise to the greatest occasion in Scottish democratic history they sank into the Tory maw.

But if the Labour thinks Scots will just forgive and forget, it is deeply mistaken.

To save them time and money, and avoid the need for sophisticated

polling analysis, let me spell out for the next Labour Leader precisely why that party is in terminal decline

Labour didn't trust Scotland, and now Scotland doesn't trust Labour.

What really matters is that this party looks forwards and not back.

We look to the next election, not the last.

And in 2015, the Westminster election offers a real possibility of putting Scotland in the driving seat.

As Labour implodes with an unelectable leader, so the Tories march to the beat of a UKIP drum. And in that lurch to the right lies enormous risk for Scotland.

Exit from the EU - which would a disaster for Scotland. Deeper faster spending cuts aimed at the poor.

An immigration policy based on the politics of fear.

Privatisation of our NHS

Friends, that isn't an example of a strong United Kingdom - a partnership of nations - it's an abhorrent and divisive agenda of which we should have no part

Conference, much has changed.

But one thing has remained constant.

When it comes to standing up for Scotland - you can't trust the Tories.

Scots watched open-mouthed on the morning of 19th September as the Prime Minister walked from Downing Street to face the cameras. He acknowledged the need to implement change in a few short paragraphs before emphasising the need for change in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and adding that 'all this must take place in tandem with, and at the same pace as, the settlement for Scotland.'

There it was - the screech of Westminster brakes being applied as the ink on the ballot papers around Scotland was barely dry.

It was a cynical and depressing attempt to pander to the Tory back benches at the expense of Scotland's democratic will. Only David Cameron could take a groundswell for Scottish Independence to be a mandate for reform in England!

So let the message be very clear from this hall and this country to the Prime Minister - delay, prevaricate, block or obstruct the implementation of what was promised, and Scotland will take matters into our own hands.

Let also every voter in Scotland be clear - only a vote for the SNP in 2015 can force Westminster to deliver on its promises.

And getting that vote in 2015 depends on you - the members of this party. In this, our 80th Annual Conference, we rejoice in the knowledge of having more than 85,000 members.

In welcoming every one of those new members, I say this - you are the spirit of the referendum.

You define and represent a nation which has become one of the most politically charged anywhere in the democratic world

Your choice to join us, and your restless desire for change, are what will fuel the final stage of Scotland journey.

Delegates, there are now twice as many SNP members in Scotland as Liberal Democrats across the whole of the UK. This is a fact that needs to be heard loud and clear by the UK broadcasters. It's just one reason -just one - why any attempt to exclude this party from leaders' debates in the next Westminster general election would be scandalous.

It would be an affront to democracy. An insult to Scotland.

So no ifs, no buts: our leader, Nicola Sturgeon, must be an equal participant in any televised general election debates.

Today l ceased to be leader of this party but that is not the beginning and end of party leadership.

Real leadership is about our members being champions of change in communities all over Scotland. How we carry that responsibility and engage with our communities will inform how far and how fast we move to independence.

That is why you - and many thousands like you - will always be the real leaders of this movement.

In Nicola Sturgeon we have a woman of extraordinary talent to take this party forward. I have not the slightest doubt that she will serve this country with enormous distinction when elected by the Scots Parliament as our First Minister.

As one era ends, so another begins. Nicola your contribution to where this party now stands has already been immense. Your future contribution - I have no doubt - will be to make history.

Delegates. As we enter the 2015 and 2016 elections, our message of hope and ambition is matched by a demonstration of what we have achieved.

Because self-government has never been just about having power for its own sake. It has been about having power to improve the lives of the people who live and work here.

That's why we have worked so hard to demonstrate what can be done within devolved Government -constitutional reform means nothing without tangible benefit for ALL of Scotland

Since 2007 we have delivered Scotland's first minority government and Scotland's first majority government

Let me be clear - without the success of that minority government there would have been no majority government

And without that majority, there would have been no referendum

We have improved the condition of our people at home

We have put Scotland back on the global map - the eyes of the world were fixed on Scotland this year.

And Scotland did not stand transfixed in the headlights of the international attention.

We rose instead to the challenge of change.

The people will not disappear back into the political shadows and the nation will not fade into the dark.

This country has changed and changed utterly.

AND THAT IS THE CHANGE WHICH WILL CARRY US FORWARD - FORWARD TO INDEPENDENCE