LESS than 12 hours after Scotland rejected independence, Alex Salmond announced he would resign.

The only First Minister to lead a majority government, Scotland's longest- serving leader said he would be stepping down at the SNP conference in November.

He said the decision was now about who was best placed to take forward the process of getting more powers for Scotland.

He repeated his statement made during the referendum campaign that it was not about him.

Mr Salmond said he will stand down as SNP leader at the party conference in November then, once a new leader is elected, he will step down as First Minister to allow the Scottish Parliament to elect his successor.

He said: "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: "The real guardians of progress are not the politicians at Westminster, or even at Holyrood, but the energised activism of tens of thousands of people who I predict will refuse meekly to go back into the political shadows.

"For me right now, ­therefore, there is a decision as to who is best placed to lead this process forward politically.

"I believe that in this new, exciting situation, redolent with possibility, party, Parliament and country would benefit from new leadership."

The new leader is expected to be Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

She has made no secret of her desire to be First Minister.

Following Mr Salmond's resignation statement the Glasgow Southside MSP said she could think of "no greater privilege" than to take the top job but insisted the decision was "not for today".

Mr Salmond raised doubts about David ­Cameron's commitment to delivering new powers for Holyrood.

He said: "I spoke to the Prime Minister today and, although he reiterated his intention to proceed as he has outlined, he would not commit to a second reading vote by 27th March on a Scotland Bill.

"That was a clear promise laid out by Gordon Brown during the campaign.

"The Prime Minister says such a vote would be meaningless. I suspect he cannot guarantee the support of his party."

He took time to praise the Yes campaign and the country for their conduct during the referendum campaign.

He said: "I am immensely proud of the campaign which Yes Scotland fought and of the 1.6 million voters who rallied to that cause by backing an independent Scotland.

"I am also proud of the 85 per cent turnout in the referendum and the remarkable response of all of the people of Scotland who participated in this great constitutional debate and the manner in which they conducted themselves."

But he warned of the need to maintain pressure on Westminster leaders to keep to their word on more powers.

He said: "We now have the opportunity to hold Westminster's feet to the fire on the 'vow' that they have made to devolve further meaningful power to Scotland. This places Scotland in a very strong position."

His resignation is a reversal of his promise two weeks before the referendum to continue as First Minister until 2016 as elected by the people.

On September 4 in Buchanan Street when asked if he would resign in the event of a No vote, he said: "We will continue to serve out the mandate we have been given and that applies to the SNP always. It applies to me - all of us."

And yesterday's move is another reversal of his stance on the leadership. He said he would not stand when John Swinney resigned in 2004, but did.

Then he had evoked the words of the American Civil War General William Sherman: "If nominated, I'll decline. If drafted, I'll defer. And if elected, I'll resign."