THE Alba Party doesn't threaten the Scottish Greens' vote share, Greens co-convener Lorna Slater has told the Andrew Marr Show.

Slater appeared on the BBC programme today in the first of its Scottish election interviews.

She told the host Alex Salmond's new party had been "thrown together by a disgruntled ex-First Minister as part of his vendetta against our First Minister".

Slater said Green voters are "a totally different demographic" to those who will lend their vote to Alba on May 6.

Host Marr asked Slater if the Greens – which recent polls put on course for 11 seats at the next contest – now face a fight for list votes following the launch of Alex Salmond's new party, which will contest no constituencies.

Saying it "absolutely does not", Lothian candidate Slater said of Alba: "This new party has been thrown together at the last minute by a man who is less popular in Scotland than Boris Johnson is.

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"The Scottish Greens have shown progress in every election in Scotland, we have had MSPs in the parliament since the beginning and we have an excellent track record of delivering things like fairer taxes in Scotland."

Citing the provision of free school meals and bus travel for young people, she went on: "The Scottish Greens have a track record that this new party does not."

The Scottish Greens ended the parliamentary term on five MSPs following the withdrawal of Andy Wightman from the party in a row over its approach to reform of equalities laws.

On the appeal to the electorate, Slater stated: "I absolutely don't agree that we are competing for the same votes [as Alba].

"Scottish Green voters care about the climate, they care about fairness, they care about human rights, they care about the kinds of policies that we are bringing forwards.

"We have a costed manifesto that involves rewilding large parts of Scotland and upgrading Scotland's homes.

"They're a totally different demographic than people who are likely to vote for a party that's been thrown together by a disgruntled ex-First Minister as part of his vendetta against our First Minister."

Slater hit out at the "circus" that had surrounded the parliamentary inquiry into the handling of harassment complaints against Salmond and said it had been used "to try to undermine the devolution settlement, undermine our parliament".

On the prospects for a second referendum in the face of opposition from Downing Street, she told Marr: "With the Scottish Greens there has been a pro-independence majority for the entire last term.

"What kind of country is Boris Johnson building if he is denying the democratic mandate of the Scottish people?

"Boris Johnson doesn't have anything up his sleeve for keeping us in the UK except from waving more flags around. He can't win with that strategy."