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@deleted
Ex-politicians earn money through consultancy and public appearances. Of course. I can't help but feel you're being a bit disingenuous with your attributing it to observations of 'political class' when Salmond grew up in a council house and was already successful before entering, and subsequently re-entering, SNP leadership. Westminster political class perhaps-yes Salmond himself has forbidden SNP politicians from participating in Westminster votes that don't concern Scottish MP's, both as a kind of symbolism of undue interference coming the other way and a rejection of the institution.
You put this as Salmond's primary motivation, which given he's devoted himself to a minority political party and what even this year was considered a minority cause and an intangible objective, seems deeply improbable when a man as talented and connected as he was could have easily found a thousand different ways of earning huge sums of money. It doesn't really tally for me but I'm sure you have your reasons.
Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that MSP's aren't exempt or less likely from having their snouts in the trough, but likewise, the culture up here doesn't seem to be quite as gratuitous as the one in Westminster as there are rules in place that are less ambiguous and they do actually rely on their local constituency for their positions. The Scottish parliament's allowances for staff and accommodation or transport are capped, with all expenses for each MSP published online. It's the Scottish MP's at Westminster like Jim Devine that got caught rinsing the far more lax allowances system, and currently, pay increases for MSP's are capped at 87.5% of any pay rise that gets approved in Westminster, with the caveat that there are times making this award may be inappropriate.
If nothing else, Salmond approved a token 1% pay rise for SNHS nurses where Westminster didn't, and though you could say that it was political point scoring, I also believe he's quite a principled and fair-minded person even if he comes across as smug or unlikable a lot of the time.