ALEX Salmond will be the SNP’s foreign affairs spokesman at Westminster.
The appointment by the party’s Westminster leader Angus Robertson, saw the former leader brought on to the party’s front bench.
In last week’s general election, the SNP won 56 of the 59 seats in Scotland. It is now the third largest party in the House of Commons.
Salmond, who stood down as SNP leader following the No vote in last September’s independence referendum, won the Gordon constituency.
Salmond tweeted: “Foreign affairs - especially Europe - will be among the dominating issues in this parliament. Promoting Scotland’s cause in the international arena is a key priority for @theSNP
“We’ll provide a strong, consistent #SNP voice which is: pro-Europe, pro-developing world [and] against military adventurism”
Europe will be a dominant issue of this parliament, with David Cameron promising to have an in/out referendum at some point before 2017.
The appointment was criticised by Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie who said that putting Salmond in charge of foreign affairs was like “putting Mr Bean in charge of the World Bank.”
Rennie added that Salmond “didn’t speak for all of Scotland when he refused to meet with the Dalai Lama or expressed admiration for Putin”.
Other appointments saw Edinburgh South West MP Joanna Cherry named justice and home affairs spokeswoman, Banff and Buchan MP Eilidh Whiteford chosen as work and pensions spokeswoman and SNP deputy leader and Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie reappointed as economy spokesman.
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