Lewis Hollaran:, external Congrats to @StewartHosieMP I'm sure he'll do an amazing job! #snp14

Jill McAlpine:, external Delighted that @StewartHosieMP elected as our Deputy Leader. What a team we have! #SNP14

Cllr Owen Thompson: , externalThree excellent candidates for deputy leader in @KeithBrownMSP @AConstanceMSP and @StewartHosieMP well done to Stewart on election #snp14

Nicola Sturgeon has formally been announced as the new leader of the SNP.

Euan C. Purchase:, external Hall is absolutely packed. Think they're going to need a much bigger venue for next year... #snp14

Scott Macdonald:, external Does Labour have a leader that can actually take on Nicola Sturgeon and win? Seriously, I'm expecting SNP wins for another decade.

Paul Monaghan:, external Packed house in Perth for the 80th National Conference of the Scottish National Party. Exciting times. #snp14

Image source, Paul Monaghan

Stewart Hosie MP has been elected deputy leader of the SNP.

He won 55.5% of the vote in the second round of voting, once the first round votes were redistributed.

The SNP 2014 conference has begun in Perth.

Nicola Sturgeon will formally take over as party leader after Alex Salmond's decision to step down.

We will learn shortly which of the deputy leadership candidates - Keith Brown, Stewart Hosie and Angela Constance - has been successful.

Taylor Wallace Mair tweets:, external @theSNP annual conference about to kick of, this is the 80th conference for the SNP #SNP14

Image source, Taylor Wallace Mair

Mary: One word to describe Alex Salmond "conniver"

Sarah, Dunoon: Alex Salmond-UNIQUE !

Anne: My word for Alex Salmond is "Deflated" !

Richard, Oban: Alex Salmond indefatigable

Elspeth Kirkman:, external Nicola Sturgeon to take over from Alex Salmond...There's something a bit fishy about all of this.

BBC Radio Scotland

tweets:, external On Morning Call one contributor has called Alex Salmond the @Cristiano Ronaldo of politics - 'so good he divides opinion' apparently.

Davy, Troon: One word to describe Alex Salmond - Inspirational. He made a nation think and feel proud. He will be missed in Scottish politics.

Sheila, Paisley: Alex Salmond will be a massive loss to Scottish politics; he has been head and shoulders above everyone else in the Scottish Parliament. In a word 'outstanding'.

John, St Andrews: An arrogant smug egomaniac. A smug individual to the end who clearly thrived on publicity, especially TV cameras.

Louise, Black Isle: Alex Salmond in one word- marmite!

A man has been arrested after a woman was allegedly raped at knifepoint in an Edinburgh park.

The 28-year-old woman was in the Leith links area when the incident happened at around 01:00 yesterday morning.

Police said that a 24-year-old man had been arrested and charged.

He is expected to appear at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Monday.

Will the Republic of Ireland feel at home at Celtic Park tonight? Not according to Scotland manager Gordon Strachan.

Image source, SNS

Can Hearts handle the pressure after Rangers closed the gap on them at the top of the table? Robbie Neilson thinks so.

And what advice did Celtic full-back Mikael Lustig offer Swedish countryman John Guidetti before his summer loan switch to the Scottish champions?

Find out in today's football gossip.

BBC Sport
Scotland

Dundee United chairman Stephen Thompson has been in Australia to help find the club's next group of star players.

Image source, SNS

The Tannadice chief is "constructing relationships" that could lead to young Australians using United as a launch pad to a career in Europe.

Australian agent Lou Sticca has told media in his country that Scotland is the perfect place for players from down under to make their name.

"We have seen a lot of Australian players have achievement after moving from Australia to Scotland,'' Sticca said.

BBC Radio Scotland

Nicola Sturgeon explained why she wants non-SNP members to be able to stand under the party's banner at next spring's General Election.

Image source, Other

"I campaigned shoulder to shoulder during the referendum with people that I share much with in terms of political outlook, philosophy and ambitions for Scotland but are not members of the SNP," she told Good Morning Scotland.

Asked to name such a person, she declined to "thrust them into the limelight" - but agreed that Jeane Freeman from Women for Independence was "a good example".

On the issue of a possible coalition with Labour at Westminster she said: "I would tend away from a formal coalition towards an arrangement which was more on an issue by issue basis."

Norman Smith
BBC Assistant Political Editor

On the face of it you would think that this conference should be a wake almost, after defeat in the independence referendum. Far from it.

It's nearer a victory celebration. The polls show that SNP support has just gone through the roof since the referendum. They're now polling at around 50%. There are projections they could win up to 20 MPs at the next Westminster General Election and could actually hold the balance of power.

The idea that independence is off the agenda seems very wide of the mark. SNP figures no longer take the view that the referendum settled the issue for a generation. Privately, they take the view that events could move an awful lot quicker, and you could have another referendum within years.

Ahead of tonight's big match, Tom English spoke to Scotland goalkeeper David Marshall about his return to Celtic Park.

Image source, SNS

Nicola Sturgeon spoke on BBC Breakfast about her dreams of independence and what she hopes to achieve as leader of the SNP.

Watch the video.

BBC Scotland Travel
Latest

Orkney Ferries' sailing to Papa Westray has been cancelled.

As Alex Salmond steps down, will you miss him? That's what Kaye Adams wants to know on Morning Call.

Let us know. Email newsonlinescotland@bbc.co.uk, text 80295 or tweet using #ScotlandLive, external.

BBC Scotland Travel
Latest

There is disruption to a number of CalMac routes including Tobermory - Kilchoan, Ardrossan - Brodick and Oban-Castlebay and Oban-Lochboisdale this morning.

Check on the Caledonian MacBrayne site, external for updates on your sailing.