NICOLA Sturgeon has admitted she had a “lingering concern” that sexual misconduct allegations could surface against Alex Salmond.

The First Minister revealed her misgivings in written evidence to a Holyrood inquiry into the Salmond affair.

She said an alleged incident at Edinburgh airport - which  Mr Salmond denied to her in November 2017 - and a meeting with his former aide were factors in her hunch.

She also said that Mr Salmond “could be challenging to work for and, rightly, he demanded high standards”, and that she had been present when “tense situations had to be defused”.

In her evidence, Ms Sturgeon said she had been told by Mr Salmond’s former chief of staff, Geoff Aberdein, in her Holyrood office on 29 March 2018 that the former First Minister wanted to see her.

She said: “From what I recall, the discussion covered the fact that Alex Salmond wanted to see me urgently about a serious matter, and I think it did cover the suggestion that the matter might relate to allegations of a sexual nature. 

“The impression I had at this time was that Mr Salmond was in a state of considerable distress, and that he may be considering resigning his party membership.”

She agreed to meet Mr Salmond at her Glasgow home on 2 April 2018, when Mr Salmond told her he was being investigated by her Government over alleged sexual misconduct. 

She went on: “I suspected the reason Alex Salmond wanted to see me on April 2 was that he was facing an allegation of sexual misconduct.

“Although my contact with Mr Aberdein on 29 March 2018 may have contributed to that suspicion, it was not the only factor. 

“For example, in early November 2017, the SNP received a enquiry from Sky News about allegations of sexual misconduct on the part of Alex Salmond. 

“I spoke to Mr Salmond about this allegation at the time. He denied it and, as it happened, Sky did not run a story about it at that time. 

“Since the identity of the individuals was not made known to us and they did not approach the SNP directly, there was no further action that it would have been possible to take.

“However, even though he assured me to the contrary, all of the circumstances surrounding this episode left me with a lingering concern that allegations about Mr Salmond could materialise at some stage.” 

The cross-party inquiry is looking at how the Scottish Government botched an in-house probe into sexual misconduct claims made against Mr Salmond in 2018. 

Mr Salmond had the exercise set aside in a judicial review at the Court of Session, forcing ministers to admit it had been “tainted by apparent bias”.

The collapse of the Government’s case in January 2019 left taxpayers with a £512,250 bill for Mr Salmond’s costs, and the Holyrood inquiry is investigating what happened. 

On 17 January 2019, Ms Sturgeon gave an undertaking to parliament to “provide whatever material” the inquiry requested.

She said: “That is the definition of full, thorough and open inquiries. My commitment is that the Government and I will cooperate fully with it, which is, I think, appropriate.”

However her officials and ministers have since tried to block witnesses and withheld swathes of evidence, citing “legal privilege” despite waiving it for three judge-led inquiries. 

The alleged Edinburgh Airport incident was discussed by the Scottish Government's top official, permanent secretary Leslie Evans, at an evidence session in August.

She said she had raised the issue directly with the First Minister in November 2017, at the high of the #MeToo movement.

Ms Evans said she told Ms Sturgeon that Sky News were investigating an “incident” at Edinburgh Airport, and that Mr Salmond had been contacting Government staff about it.

She said one of those contacted had been “extremely concerned” by the contact.

Ms Evans told the inquiry’s first evidence session: “I did mention that to the First Minister. I told her about that. I said I was concerned."

She said she mentioned it "mostly because the staff were anxious about it", but also in case it became a news story that the Government would have to handle.

Sky News would later run a story about sexual misconduct claims against Mr Salmond - which he denied - involving female employees at the airport around 2008, and that the then SNP leader at Westminster, Angus Robertson, had been informed at the time.