She became the Deputy Leader of the Scottish National Party in 2004 and because Alex Salmond was still an MP , she was the SNP 's leader in the Scottish Parliament until the 2007 Scottish Parliament election . At the 2007 election , Nicola Sturgeon became the MSP for Glasgow Govan and her party formed a minority government with Alex Salmond as First Minister . As Salmond was still an MP in the House of Commons , Sturgeon would lead the SNP at the Scottish Parliament until the 2007 election , when Salmond was elected as an MSP .