Is Alex Salmond’s New Party Dead on Arrival?

Is Alex Salmond’s new Alba Party in Scotland dead on arrival? According to a poll published this week, maybe.

Under Scotland’s electoral system voters will, this May, be given two votes. As the BBC notes: “People have two votes - one for a constituency MSP, and another for a regional ballot.

“There are 73 Constituency MSPs, each elected on a first-past-the-post system similar to the UK general election - the winner is the candidate who receives the most votes in each constituency.

“In the regional ballot, people vote for a party. The parties are then allocated a number of MSPs depending on how many votes they receive - once the number of constituencies already won in that region is taken into account - to make the overall result more proportional.”

For the regional list vote there are eight electoral regions which each elect seven MSPs.

Alex Salmond’s ambition is that by only standing candidates for the regional list vote, it will maximise the number of MSPs elected in the new Parliament who support independence, the “super majority” he aspires to.

However, a poll out this week undertaken by Survation for DC Thomson  has found that  when it comes to the regional list vote, support for the Alba Party is on just 3%, behind the Liberal Democrats on 8% and the pro-independence Scottish Green Party on 11%.

The findings suggest also that Alex Salmod could be causing more harm than good to the cause of Scottish independence.

According to the poll, 71% of Scots view the former First Minister unfavourably – with more than half of those asked arguing that he is “hindering the cause for Scottish independence”. He is, according to the data, less popular than Boris Johnson with Scots. Just 17% of those questioned said Mr Salmond was helping the campaign for Scottish independence.

Meanwhile, the poll found also that the SNP retain a clear lead in the poll. As the Sunday Post notes:  “The poll, which spoke to more than 1,000 people, shows the SNP retaining a runaway lead, with 49% in constituencies and 38% on the regional list.

“The Scottish Tories appear locked in a tight battle with Labour for second place, with Douglas Ross’ party on 21% and 18%, compared to 20% and 19% for Labour.

“The Lib Dems are at 9% in constituency votes and 8% in the regions, while the Scottish Greens sit on 11% regionally.”

The polling guru, Professor John Curtice from the University of Strathclyde has argued that: “The headline is that it looks as though it’s all over for Salmond,” has he faces the prospect of not winning any seats at Holyrood on 6th May.

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