Salmond's New Party Seeks Indy Supermajority, Risk Of Vote Split Low

Scotland's former First Minister Alex Salmond announced at a press conference earlier today that he has formed a new pro-independence party, the Alba Party, and intends to put forward candidates in all areas of Scotland in the upcoming 6 May parliamentary elections.

• Salmond has stated that Alba Party candidates will only stand on regional lists and will not contest constituency votes. The Scottish parliament is elected via the additional member system, meaning 76 are elected in single-member constituencies, while 56 are elected via proportional representation via 8 regional lists. Salmond said this decision was to allow the SNP to sweep constituencies but avoid wasted pro-independence votes on the lists, as winning more constituencies in a region makes it harder to win list seats.
• Salmond's initial announcement led to speculation that the new party could split the pro-independence vote between Alba and the governing Scottish National Party (SNP). However, with Alba only contesting list seats, this risk is reduced. In the 2016 election the SNP only won four list seats compared to 59 constituency seats, while the latest poll from Survation shows the SNP would not win a single list seat this time around if its findings were reflected in the result.
• Nevertheless, the SNP issued a terse statement directed personally at Salmond, saying that "This is perhaps the most predictable development in Scottish politics for quite some time. At this time of crisis, the interests of the country must come first and should not be obscured by the self-interest of someone who shows no sign whatsoever of reflecting on serious concerns about his own conduct – concerns which, to put it mildly, raise real questions about the appropriateness of a return to public office."