Sturgeon 'categorically' rules out working with Salmond in major blow to his 'supermajority' plan

Nicola Sturgeon has “categorically” ruled out working with Alex Salmond if he is elected to Holyrood, and he suffered a second blow after a poll showed his bid to return to politics is set to end in a humiliating failure.

The First Minister said on Thursday that she would not cooperate with her former mentor if he wins seats at May's election, undermining his claim that he can secure an independence “supermajority” that would help her secure a new referendum.

The intervention is likely to see a bitter rift between the pair, and a civil war within the wider independence movement, deepen further.

Meanwhile, the first poll conducted since Mr Salmond launched his new Alba Party found support at just three per cent - well below the threshold needed to win a single seat.

Ms Sturgeon had previously left the door ajar to working with Mr Salmond and his new Alba party, after he launched a sensational bid to return to frontline politics last week.

However, she toughened her stance, telling Channel 4 News that she was giving a "categorical" pledge that she would not work with a man she has recently described as a "conspiracy theorist".

She said: “I won’t be seeking to work with Alex Salmond. I don’t think his new party will help the independence cause, I’m not even sure from his perspective it’s intended to do that.

“I have no intentions of trying to work with Alex Salmond or a new party.”

Ms Sturgeon and Mr Salmond have not spoken since mid-2018, when they fell out spectacularly over the Scottish Government’s handling of sexual harassment complaints against him.

Mr Salmond would go on to accuse Ms Sturgeon’s husband, the SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, of conspiring to have him jailed, while Ms Sturgeon has questioned his fitness for public office. Mr Murrell has always denied claims he plotted against Mr Salmond.

In a separate interview earlier this week, Ms Sturgeon would not rule out relying on backing from Alba MSPs to claim a mandate for another independence referendum.

She had also suggested that Mr Salmond acknowledging inappropriate conduct towards women, which he admitted in a trial which saw him cleared of criminality, was a necessary “first step” to reestablishing a relationship with him.

While Mr Salmond has previously claimed that while he would not “forgive” Ms Sturgeon over their feud, they could put their differences aside to campaign for independence.

However, asked on Thursday whether she would give a "categorical" assurance not to work with Mr Salmond, she replied: "I think I just did".

Mr Salmond has urged voters to back Ms Sturgeon’s SNP with their first vote, used to elect constituency MSPs under the Holyrood voting system, and his Alba Party with their second vote, used to elect regional representatives.

However, Ms Sturgeon claimed this amounted to an attempt to “game” Holyrood’s electoral system, which sees regional seats allocated under a process designed to deliver a more proportional result.

She accused Mr Salmond of attempting to "mislead" voters by suggesting the country could “trick our way to independence.”

At his own press conference yesterday afternoon, Mr Salmond revealed he would be writing to broadcasters to demand inclusion in TV election debates which would mean a live face-to-face showdown with his former protege.

He also launched an attack on Ms Sturgeon’s independence strategy, suggesting she had been wrong to set out her preferred method and timeframe for securing a new vote on leaving the UK.

He also claimed the First Minister should “take direction” from a Scottish Parliament he is hoping to reenter, rather than deciding on her tactics by herself.

“I don't think you should tell in advance, your negotiating opponent, what exactly you're going to do and the timescale you intend to do it on,” he said.

“Pigeonholing yourself into one route in one timescale, I think has a limitations over the advantages of taking the substantial independence supermajority in the Parliament, and taking direction from that.”

Meanwhile, uncertainty has also arison over Mr Salmond’s stance on full EU membership, which Ms Sturgeon enthusiastically supports.

Kenny MacAskill, the former SNP justice secretary and Alba candidate, yesterday backed EEA or EFTA membership for an independent Scotland before “an eventual referendum” on rejoining the EU.

Mr Salmond said his party’s position would be decided at a candidates’ conference on Saturday, but did not commit to backing full EU membership. He said his party would adopt a “very friendly” attitude to its “friends and colleagues across the European continent”.

Mr Salmond unveiled a slate of 32 candidates on Wednesday, and has claimed upwards of 90 of 129 MSPs could support independence after the election if his “supermajority” plan is a success.

He will today unveil the number of members who have signed up to his Alba Party since its launch last week, in an effort to add weight to his push for inclusion in upcoming TV debates with other party leaders.

He said that in the first BBC debate on Monday, he was mentioned several times with no right of reply, while including Alba as a sixth party would offer a balance between unionist and pro-independence speakers.

A spokesman for the BBC said it would be “looking, as we always do at this stage in an election campaign, at our future plans for coverage.”

STV said it would soon be announcing “comprehensive” election coverage which would be “in line with Ofcom guidance”.