SALMOND: SNP FACE A MAJOR DISASTER

>> Former party in danger if they fall to fewer than 20 MPs >> Hopes high 'missing 20% of voters could turn to Alba

- CHRIS MCCALL

ALEX Salmond has warned the SNP faces a "major disaster" if the party returns fewer than 20 MPs at the General Election.

The former first minister predicted the Nationalists were in for a "difficult time" when voters head to the polls on July 4.

The SNP has endured a torrid 16 months since Nicola Sturgeon resigned as leader in February 2023.

The party which dominated the last three general elections in Scotland - has regularly trailed Labour in surveys of voting intentions this year and is tipped to lose multiple seats next month.

Speaking on the Planet Holyrood podcast, Salmond said there was a "missing 20 per cent" of voters in Scotland who backed independence but were now unlikely to vote SNP.

The Alba leader is hoping such "demoralised" indy supporters would now support his party instead of voting Labour.

"I think the SNP are in for a difficult time," he said. "If you look at the steady average of opinion polls, 50 per cent believe in independence but just over 30 per cent are Alba, we've got a plan to get us to independence, and don't vote for a Unionist party"." prepared to vote for the SNP.

"In that 20 per cent - let's call them the missing 20 per cent these are people disillusioned by the lack of progress for independence, sometimes put off by the stupid things the SNP have done in government recently.

These are people who are going to sit on their hands, or worse still, from a Nationalist perspective, vote Labour.