ALEX Salmond today said he would be standing down as Scotland's First Minister and Scottish National Party (SNP) leader.

After the referendum defeat, Mr Salmond said it was time for a new leader who could now take the devolution process forward.

Mr Salmond said he believed party, parliament and country would ''benefit from new leadership''.

He added: ''I believe that in this new exciting situation, redolent with possibility, Party, Parliament and country would benefit from new leadership.

''Therefore I have told the National Secretary of the SNP that I will not accept nomination to be a candidate for leader at the Annual Conference in Perth on  November 13-15.

''After the membership ballot I will stand down as First Minister to allow the new leader to be elected by due Parliamentary process.

''Until then I will continue to serve as First Minister. After that I will continue to offer to serve as Member of the Scottish Parliament for Aberdeenshire East.

''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.

''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.''

He added: "My time as leader is nearly over but for Scotland the campaign continues and the dream will never die."

The First Minister also called on the leaders of Westminster parties to stick to their promises made before the referendum to give Scotland more powers.