What is the point of Alex Salmond’s Alba Party?

The former first minister has to convince Scots his pro-independence party has a distinct purpose

Mr Salmond is hoping to appeal to SNP voters who may have frustrations with the party’s leadership and may be willing to part with their second vote in May (PA)

Alex Salmond has managed to dominate headlines in Scotland ever since he launched his very own pro-independence party, trouncing the Scottish Labour, Tory and Liberal Democrat leaders for media coverage.

The former first minister – bringing the high drama of his big feud with Nicola Sturgeon – offers obvious appeal to the media. But the first poll since the birth of the Alba Party suggests he has limited appeal with Scottish voters.

The Survation survey finds only 3 per cent of Scots are ready to back Alba at the ballot box in May. Polling experts believe Mr Salmond needs 5 to 7 per cent of the vote to get in the ballpark of winning seats under Scotland’s regional list system.

So exactly what is Mr Salmond actually hoping to achieve? How can he convince pro-independence voters his Alba Party has a purpose distinct from the SNP? Are critics entitled to accuse him of a launching a futile “vanity project”?

His one big idea is the creation of a “super majority” in the Scottish parliament. He has spent the past week talking it up, hoping to appeal to SNP voters who may have frustrations with the party’s leadership and may be willing to part with their second vote in May.

• Read more:
• Salmond demands new Alba joins Scottish election TV debates
• Can Salmond create a ‘super-majority’ for independence?

Mr Salmond has claimed he can help create a much larger majority of pro-independence MSPs in the Scottish parliament, which would then make it much harder for Boris Johnson’s government to refuse to grant a second referendum on separation from the UK.

Insisting that he is not trying to split the SNP vote, he has also claimed a huge number of pro-independence votes are being “wasted” because of Scotland’s proportional representation system.

The SNP tends to win so many of the first vote, first-past-the-post constituency seats that it is not entitled to many top-up seats given to candidates from regional lists (the number of top-up seats given depends on the proportion of second votes won in each area).

So if enough SNP voters cast their second vote for Mr Salmond’s new party, it could – in theory – help boost the number of MSPs who back independence.

Mike Small, editor of the pro-independence blog Bella Caledonia, is not convinced. He believes Mr Salmond is “attempting to solve a problem that doesn’t exist” with his super majority concept.

“Recent polls have shown the possibility of both an SNP majority and a pro-indy majority with the Scottish Greens,” he notes – pointing out that Mr Salmond’s poll numbers leave the whole enterprise looking “like a vanity project driven by ego and revenge”.

Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon together in 2012 (PA)

Ms Sturgeon is also sceptical about her ally-turned-adversary’s true motivation. The SNP leader has suggested he may even be fooling himself, coming up with a political idea but subconsciously driven by his personal need to get back in the game.

“I think he will be telling himself he is somehow advancing the independence cause, but I think he is standing because he loves the limelight and can’t bear not to be on the stage,” the SNP leader said earlier this week.

Does the Alba Party lean left or right? There has been precious little in the way of distinct policies to let Scotland’s voters know either way.

Former SNP MP George Kerevan and three other figures in the SNP movement said they had defected and signed up to Alba to advocate “left-wing policies” – railing against what they said was a drift to the right in the SNP on economic issues.

In truth, few voters will believe the new outfit offers a left-leaning alternative to the SNP. Ms Sturgeon was able to make herself Mr Salmond’s obvious successor in 2014 because she was so successfully in tune with the rhetoric of “anti-austerity” and “social justice” the party faithful wanted to hear.

Mr Salmond may, however, be able to pick up a few votes from Scottish nationalists who believe the SNP has gone “soft” on the push for independence, and are simply too timid in demanding what they want from Downing Street.

He has talked defiantly this week about the possibility of encouraging big “street demonstrations” after the 6 May vote.

He has also talked about the possibility of simply demanding negotiations on independence with No 10 – without any need for a referendum – if his precious “super majority” emerges.

Might Mr Salmond push his party’s vote up to 5 or 6 per cent simply by being the “hard man” of the independence cause?

It’s a big gamble, even for a risk-taker like Mr Salmond, who is – according to Ms Sturgeon – fond of a regular flutter on the horses.

The gambler does not have much time to convince Scots he has something distinct and meaningful to offer. Just over four weeks remain for what could prove to be his last throw of the dice in his political career.