Scottish election results 2021: Salmond says Alba may not win any seats

Alex Salmond has said his new pro-independence party, Alba, may not win any seats in the election.

He launched the party in March with the aim of building "a supermajority for independence" at Holyrood.

Mr Salmond told the BBC that his party would put up a "substantial show" when full results were declared on Saturday.

But what he had seen so far meant he did not think the party would end up with MSPs at Holyrood.

People in Scottish elections have two votes - one for a constituency MSP, the other in a regional ballot designed to make the overall result more proportional.

Mr Salmond hoped his new party would see MSPs elected through the regional vote - the results of that vote is expected on Saturday.

He told BBC Scotland on Friday evening that it was good that Alba were "registering as a political party in terms of vote share".

"That's all to the good," he said, "but whether we will make it tomorrow, I don't think so on the results we've seen - but we will put up a good substantial show."

Alba were standing candidates in each of Scotland's eight electoral regions.

Mr Salmond was encouraging independence voters to give the SNP their constituency vote, and Alba their regional vote.

Regional MSPs are elected using a formula designed to ensure parliament better reflects the proportion of public support that exists for different parties.

The system is weighted so that the more constituency seats a party wins, the higher the level of support they need in the regional vote to pick up extra seats.

Mr Salmond said giving Alba the regional vote would mean more pro-independence MSPs were elected and create what he branded a "supermajority" of MSPs in favour of Scottish independence.

He added: "I think probably we will take out of this election the arguments we have been putting forward will be proven to be correct. Firstly, that independence should be front and centre of election campaigns if we want to persuade people to vote for it.

"And, secondly, it looks like, though it is not certain, that the SNP will be poised on an overall majority but there won't be the backing in terms of the enthusiasm for getting on with the independence referendum.

"Crucially, it seems perhaps a million, perhaps even more than a million, SNP votes on the regional list are going to elect perhaps one, perhaps two MSPs on that section of the ballot paper across Scotland. What a waste."

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