Scottish first minister resigns after defeat

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond Friday announced his resignation after the Yes campaign's defeat in the independence referendum, Xinhua reported.

Addressing a press conference broadcast live by SKY TV, Salmond said he will be stepping down as Scotland's First Minister and leader of the ruling Scottish National Party (SNP).

Salmond said his term ends after the Yes campaign's defeat in the independence referendum, which was announced earlier Friday. However, the Scottish people's campaign to realise the dream shall continue, he emphasised.

Salmond said his successor will be from the SNP, which indicates the current deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will assume the post.

The "No" side won Thursday's referendum by 2,001,926 votes to 1,617,989 for "Yes", BBC reported Friday.

The national split of the vote was 55 percent for "No" to 45 percent for "Yes".

"For me as leader my time is nearly over but for Scotland the campaign continues and the dream shall never die," Salmond said from Bute House in Edinburgh, the first minister's official residence.

"I am immensely proud of the campaign that Yes Scotland fought and particularly of the 1.6m voters who rallied to that cause."