Mr Salmond addressed SNP party members in Edinburgh

Mr Salmond gave a keynote speech to activists at Our Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh on Saturday.

The party leader reflected on an eventful first few weeks in charge of the Scottish Executive.

He had not directly addressed the SNP's National Council since a pre-election conference in March.

Since then the Nationalists have beaten Labour by 47 seats to 46 to become the largest party at the Scottish Parliament.

Mr Salmond said the last few "remarkable" weeks had provided some "wonderful experiences".

"Today marks something truly special for me and for this party," he said.

'Earn respect'

"Today, it gives me immense pleasure to stand before SNP National Council both as your leader and as the first minister of Scotland.

"That marks a watershed for our party. Today we can say something we have always wanted to say: 'the Scottish National Party is a now party of government'."

The first minister said the new administration had "hit the ground running" since its success in both the Scottish Parliament and council elections.

He listed the "progress" that the SNP-led executive had already made, including "saving" two accident and emergency units and abolishing the graduate endowment.

Mr Salmond added: "This government is moving at full speed and we are carrying forward the momentum of our election success.