If Scotland votes ‘Yes’ on Thursday Alex Salmond will go down in history as the man who led his country to independence – or needlessly tore apart the world’s most successful union after 300 years. But Mr Salmond will not have achieved the Scottish nationalists’ dream alone. Throughout his political life the SNP’s great hope has surrounded himself with a close-knit team of advisers which have run the party with ruthless efficiency. The spinners, backroom deal makers and millionaire backers have sacrificed everything for ‘the Cause’ - propelling Scotland to the brink of independence. Scroll down for video . Spin chief Kevin Pringle (left) is Alex Salmond's most-trusted lieutenant in the SNP inner circle dragging Scotland towards independence . Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon with her husband Peter Murrell - the chief executive of the SNP - following their wedding service at the Oran Mor in Glasgow in 2010 . Kevin Pringle, Mr Salmond's Alastair Campbell-style spin chief, is the main power behind the throne. But Mr Salmond also relies on the SNP chief executive Peter Murrell – husband of Scotland’s deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. Together the four party chieftains have guided the party from multiple election defeats to the brink of breaking up the United Kingdom. The SNP's success was built on picking a team of backroom supporters united by two goals: winning elections and taking Scotland out of the Union. This is the backroom army which really runs the SNP. At the heart of the operation is Mr Pringle. Now in his forties, he joined the party in 1989 and swiftly rose to a position where he was the First Minister's most trusted lieutenant. Born in Perth, the son of a milkman and an auxiliary nurse, he started worrying about nuclear weapons at the age of 11, joined the SNP at the age of 18 and began working for the party as a researcher at 21 as soon as he graduated from Aberdeen University. He became director of communications in the decade that followed, leading up to the creation of the Scottish parliament. In 1998, a year after Scots voted in the devolution referendum, Miss Sturgeon said Mr Pringle was the SNP's ‘biggest asset'. When Mr Salmond stood down from Holyrood in 2000 to lead the SNP group in the Commons, leaving John Swinney to hold the reins in Edinburgh, Mr Pringle followed him to London. Colin Weir (left) and his wife Chris pose for pictures with champagne during a photocall in Falkirk, Scotland, after scooping the lottery in 2011 . The SNP supporters won £161million and have donated £4.5million of their fortune to the campaign to break up the Union . Stephen Noon . A senior policy adviser who wrote the SNP's 2011 manifesto and is now chief strategist at Yes Scotland. A Jesuit-educated former Young Conservative, he was spotted by Mr Salmond after he and two fellow Edinburgh University students draped the Lion Rampant over the railings in front of the Coronation Chair at Westminster Abbey. He later made the headlines when he claimed he was sacked as press secretary to the head of the Catholic Church in England for being gay. Noel Dolan . The former TV journalist has been with the party since 1999 before being appointed Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's top adviser in 2007 - a position he keeps to this day. He is undoubtedly one of the most popular spin doctors in Holyrood. Colin McAllister . The spin doctor headed the SNP's communications team when Mr Pringle went to London, is now a special adviser. In the corridors of power in Holyrood he is seen as ‘harder to like’ than Mr Dolan. Geoff Aberdein . A skilled amateur footballer with Edinburgh-based club Spartans, was only 24 when he joined Mr Salmond's operation and became known in the parliament as the First Minister's 'bag carrier'. He had worked part-time in the SNP leader's constituency office and was so dedicated to the cause of Nationalism that he turned down a job with the New York Times to remain with the party. In the years since 2007, Mr Aberdein's role has increased massively and he now has the grand, West Wing-style title of chief of staff. Insiders say he is almost as powerful as Mr Pringle once was. Stuart Nicolson . A former Scottish political editor at the Scottish Daily Mail, who has drastically cut the amount of time advisers spend with the media. Observers agree that he has become increasingly 'tetchy' in recent months and the entire communications team often shows disdain for a printed press that has repeatedly exposed the shortcomings of the independence campaign. Liz Lloyd . A Geordie who was once named one of Scotland's most eligible women and is one of the loudest defenders of the economics behind independence. Mr Pringle stood for the SNP in Edinburgh Central in the 2003 Holyrood election. He came third and was accused of 'anti-Englishness' after calling for the Duke of Wellington's statue in Princes Street to be removed to make way for one of Robert Burns. After a brief stint in the communications department at Scottish Gas, Mr Pringle returned to take control of Mr Salmond's spin team in the 2007 Scottish elections. Mr Pringle is now based in the party’s tiny HQ on Jackson's Entry, a small alley between Edinburgh's Royal Mile and Holyrood Road. This is the base for another passionate Nationalist who had settled on a political career behind the scenes: Mr Murrell, who had once been Mr Salmond's constituency assistant. Since 2001, when he replaced Mike Russell as chief executive, he has managed to make himself so invaluable that his remuneration package has soared from £35,000 to more than £100,000. Few people claim to know him well. He is rarely seen, except at elections and at party conferences. At these carefully choreographed conferences, he is nearly always present in the main auditorium, usually standing in the shadows to the side of the stage. He whispers instructions to Cabinet ministers as they prepare to make keynote speeches and is more powerful than anyone watching Mr Salmond's tub-thumping performances on the TV could possibly realise. Only after Miss Sturgeon's speech, when he kisses his wife, does he appear in the spotlight. Supporters credit him with creating one of Europe's most formidable election machines. But critics will never forgive him for ignoring warnings that one SNP candidate in 2011, Bill Walker, was a serial wifebeater. Walker was eventually sent to jail when his past caught up with him, while Mr Murrell survived calls for his resignation. The chief executive has worked closely with Mr Pringle over the years, and the pair were present at a crucial summit at the Craigellachie Hotel on Speyside in 2005. There they made a solemn vow 'to be ready for government before May 3, 2007, and in government thereafter.' But the SNP's operation is not a two-man team. Mr Salmond has also received crucial backing from long time SNP supporters Chris and Colin Weir – who happened to win the lottery in 2011. The pair have bankrolled an astonishing 80 per cent of Yes Scotland’s fight to break up Britain, donating £2.5million to the cause in just 12 months. It shows that the Ayrshire couple, who won £161m in a Euromillions draw in 2011, has donated a total of £4.5m to SNP and the Yes campaign since their win. It means almost 80 per cent of £4.9million funding for the separation campaign has come from just one source – something the grassroots campaign Unlock Democracy warned was ‘unhealthy’. The Weirs’ latest £2.5million pledge to Yes Scotland is their second to the pro-independence campaign, having previously donated £1million. And the couple, who scooped Scotland’s biggest ever lottery jackpot, also gave £1million to the SNP, in 2011.
First Minister supported by team of spinners and backroom dealers .
Spin chief Kevin Pringle is the SNP chief's long-serving right hand man .
Party boss Peter Murrell and his wife Nicola Sturgeon form SNP inner circle .
Lottery winners Chris and Colin Weir have bankrolled the 'Yes' campaign .
If Scotland votes ‘Yes’ on Thursday Alex Salmond will go down in history as the man who led his country to independence – or needlessly tore apart the world’s most successful union after 300 years. But Mr Salmond will not have achieved the Scottish nationalists’ dream alone. Throughout his political life the SNP’s great hope has surrounded himself with a close-knit team of advisers which have run the party with ruthless efficiency. The spinners, backroom deal makers and millionaire backers have sacrificed everything for ‘the Cause’ - propelling Scotland to the brink of independence. Scroll down for video . Spin chief Kevin Pringle (left) is Alex Salmond's most-trusted lieutenant in the SNP inner circle dragging Scotland towards independence . Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon with her husband Peter Murrell - the chief executive of the SNP - following their wedding service at the Oran Mor in Glasgow in 2010 . Kevin Pringle, Mr Salmond's Alastair Campbell-style spin chief, is the main power behind the throne. But Mr Salmond also relies on the SNP chief executive Peter Murrell – husband of Scotland’s deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. Together the four party chieftains have guided the party from multiple election defeats to the brink of breaking up the United Kingdom. The SNP's success was built on picking a team of backroom supporters united by two goals: winning elections and taking Scotland out of the Union. This is the backroom army which really runs the SNP. At the heart of the operation is Mr Pringle. Now in his forties, he joined the party in 1989 and swiftly rose to a position where he was the First Minister's most trusted lieutenant. Born in Perth, the son of a milkman and an auxiliary nurse, he started worrying about nuclear weapons at the age of 11, joined the SNP at the age of 18 and began working for the party as a researcher at 21 as soon as he graduated from Aberdeen University. He became director of communications in the decade that followed, leading up to the creation of the Scottish parliament. In 1998, a year after Scots voted in the devolution referendum, Miss Sturgeon said Mr Pringle was the SNP's ‘biggest asset'. When Mr Salmond stood down from Holyrood in 2000 to lead the SNP group in the Commons, leaving John Swinney to hold the reins in Edinburgh, Mr Pringle followed him to London. Colin Weir (left) and his wife Chris pose for pictures with champagne during a photocall in Falkirk, Scotland, after scooping the lottery in 2011 . The SNP supporters won £161million and have donated £4.5million of their fortune to the campaign to break up the Union . Stephen Noon . A senior policy adviser who wrote the SNP's 2011 manifesto and is now chief strategist at Yes Scotland. A Jesuit-educated former Young Conservative, he was spotted by Mr Salmond after he and two fellow Edinburgh University students draped the Lion Rampant over the railings in front of the Coronation Chair at Westminster Abbey. He later made the headlines when he claimed he was sacked as press secretary to the head of the Catholic Church in England for being gay. Noel Dolan . The former TV journalist has been with the party since 1999 before being appointed Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's top adviser in 2007 - a position he keeps to this day. He is undoubtedly one of the most popular spin doctors in Holyrood. Colin McAllister . The spin doctor headed the SNP's communications team when Mr Pringle went to London, is now a special adviser. In the corridors of power in Holyrood he is seen as ‘harder to like’ than Mr Dolan. Geoff Aberdein . A skilled amateur footballer with Edinburgh-based club Spartans, was only 24 when he joined Mr Salmond's operation and became known in the parliament as the First Minister's 'bag carrier'. He had worked part-time in the SNP leader's constituency office and was so dedicated to the cause of Nationalism that he turned down a job with the New York Times to remain with the party. In the years since 2007, Mr Aberdein's role has increased massively and he now has the grand, West Wing-style title of chief of staff. Insiders say he is almost as powerful as Mr Pringle once was. Stuart Nicolson . A former Scottish political editor at the Scottish Daily Mail, who has drastically cut the amount of time advisers spend with the media. Observers agree that he has become increasingly 'tetchy' in recent months and the entire communications team often shows disdain for a printed press that has repeatedly exposed the shortcomings of the independence campaign. Liz Lloyd . A Geordie who was once named one of Scotland's most eligible women and is one of the loudest defenders of the economics behind independence. Mr Pringle stood for the SNP in Edinburgh Central in the 2003 Holyrood election. He came third and was accused of 'anti-Englishness' after calling for the Duke of Wellington's statue in Princes Street to be removed to make way for one of Robert Burns. After a brief stint in the communications department at Scottish Gas, Mr Pringle returned to take control of Mr Salmond's spin team in the 2007 Scottish elections. Mr Pringle is now based in the party’s tiny HQ on Jackson's Entry, a small alley between Edinburgh's Royal Mile and Holyrood Road. This is the base for another passionate Nationalist who had settled on a political career behind the scenes: Mr Murrell, who had once been Mr Salmond's constituency assistant. Since 2001, when he replaced Mike Russell as chief executive, he has managed to make himself so invaluable that his remuneration package has soared from £35,000 to more than £100,000. Few people claim to know him well. He is rarely seen, except at elections and at party conferences. At these carefully choreographed conferences, he is nearly always present in the main auditorium, usually standing in the shadows to the side of the stage. He whispers instructions to Cabinet ministers as they prepare to make keynote speeches and is more powerful than anyone watching Mr Salmond's tub-thumping performances on the TV could possibly realise. Only after Miss Sturgeon's speech, when he kisses his wife, does he appear in the spotlight. Supporters credit him with creating one of Europe's most formidable election machines. But critics will never forgive him for ignoring warnings that one SNP candidate in 2011, Bill Walker, was a serial wifebeater. Walker was eventually sent to jail when his past caught up with him, while Mr Murrell survived calls for his resignation. The chief executive has worked closely with Mr Pringle over the years, and the pair were present at a crucial summit at the Craigellachie Hotel on Speyside in 2005. There they made a solemn vow 'to be ready for government before May 3, 2007, and in government thereafter.' But the SNP's operation is not a two-man team. Mr Salmond has also received crucial backing from long time SNP supporters Chris and Colin Weir – who happened to win the lottery in 2011. The pair have bankrolled an astonishing 80 per cent of Yes Scotland’s fight to break up Britain, donating £2.5million to the cause in just 12 months. It shows that the Ayrshire couple, who won £161m in a Euromillions draw in 2011, has donated a total of £4.5m to SNP and the Yes campaign since their win. It means almost 80 per cent of £4.9million funding for the separation campaign has come from just one source – something the grassroots campaign Unlock Democracy warned was ‘unhealthy’. The Weirs’ latest £2.5million pledge to Yes Scotland is their second to the pro-independence campaign, having previously donated £1million. And the couple, who scooped Scotland’s biggest ever lottery jackpot, also gave £1million to the SNP, in 2011.
video . Spin chief Kevin Pringle (left) is Alex inner circle dragging Scotland towards the SNP chief executive Peter Murrell – husband of Scotland’s deputy First Minister Nicola London. Colin Weir (left) and his wife Chris pose Chris and Colin Weir – who happened to win the and the Yes campaign since their win. It means