THE SNP are braced for more defections among their group of MPs to Alex Salmond’s Alba Party, the National has been told.
It is understood Nicola Sturgeon’s party is expecting more of their elected representations in Westminster to make the switch already made by Kenny MacAskill and Neale Hanvey over the weekend.
One insider confirmed more high profile SNP politicians would be announcing a move to the new party in the coming days.
Asked if these would include MPs, the source said: “I would say so, yes.”
However, the source refused to say how many more MPs would be resigning from the SNP and joining the Alba Party, and whether the number would be more than a single further MP.
There has been a intense speculation that Angus MacNeil below, the MP for the Western Isles, who has been critical of the SNP’s strategy to achieve independence, will leave the SNP and join the Alba Party.
He did not respond to inquiries from The National last night.
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Salmond revealed on Friday that he would be leading the new Alba Party and standing as a Holyrood candidate on the North East regional list.
The former First Minister also revealed the party would be fielding at least four candidates on all eight regional lists, but not standing in constituency seats. He called for voters to support the SNP in the first past the post seats.
Kenny MacAskill, the MP for East Lothian, revealed on Saturday he had left the SNP and had joined the Alba Party, while Neale Hanvey (below), the MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, and former SNP MP Corri Wilson announced their defections yesterday. 
MacAskill is standing for the Alba Party on the Lothian list, while Hanvey and Wilson on the Mid Scotland and Fife list and South of Scotland list respectively.
In further developments:
- Two members of the SNP’s ruling body, the National Executive Committee, said they had resigned to join Alba. Caroline McAllister, who was the women’s convener, and is depute leader of West Dunbartonshire Council, and Lynne Anderson, who was the equalities convener, and is a North Lanarkshire councillor, will both be Holyrood candidates for the Alba Party – McAllister will stand on the West of Scotland regional list and Anderson on the Central Scotland list.
- Former Scottish Socialist Party leader Tommy Sheridan and his wife Gail announced that they had joined the Alba Party. Sheridan tweeted: “We look forward to working alongside others in the promotion of the positive and urgent case for Scottish independence. We must deliver the indy supermajority in five weeks’ time so it’s SNP 1, Alba 2.”
Sheridan served two terms as an MSP for the Scottish Socialist Party between 1999 and 2007, and remains a controversial figure after he was jailed for perjury in 2011 after a trial. - Former secretary of state for Scotland David Mundell said the Alba Party led by Salmond poses a “real and present danger” to the Union. The Scottish Tory MP told the Observer: “The important thing people have to grasp is that the threat he poses is real.” The Scottish Tory MP added: “The system is as it is, so whether he’s gaming it or not is not the key. The key is that he and his party present a real and present danger to bringing about an independence referendum and it has to be stopped.”
Meanwhile, in an interview yesterday, Salmond said Nicola Sturgeon was “the best person” to lead Scotland.
His comments came days after the former First Minister announced he was intending to launch a new legal action against the Scottish Government over the conduct of Leslie Evans, the permanent secretary.
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The challenge relates to her involvement in the Scottish Government’s investigation of complaints madeagainst Salmond by two civil servants when he was First Minister. Salmond raised a judicial review against the Government with the Court of Session ruling the investigation was unlawful and “tainted by apparent bias”.
Salmond told the Sunday Mail: “I believe that she should be the First Minister because the SNP should win a handsome majority. She is the only viable independence candidate and therefore she is the best one.
“I have no ambition to be in government. I am not standing to be First Minister, I am standing for the Alba Party on the list to build an independence super-majority.”
On Friday, Chris McEleny (below), a councillor in Inverclyde and a prominentadvocate of a Plan B to achieve independence, also announced he had left the SNP and joined the Alba Party. McEleny will stand on the West of Scotland regional list.
Lawyer Eva Comrie will be standing in the Mid Scotland and Fife region. Comrie was previously an SNP candidate for this list.
Businesswoman Cynthia Guthrie, CEO, of the Guthrie Group, will stand in South of Scotland.
At his press conference on Friday, Salmond revealed the Alba Party was founded earlier this year by former TV producer Laurie Flynn, a long-time independence supporter.
At its launch the party said its aims were: “National independence for Scotland as an immediate necessity, and overwhelming priority, achieved by democratic means through a vote of people resident in Scotland.”
The SNP have been highly critical of the developments, with the First Minister attacking Salmond’s return to frontline politics.
Speaking on the campaign trail on Saturday, she said: “I take no pleasure whatsoever in saying this but I think there are significant questions about the appropriateness of his return to public office given the concerns that have been raised about his behaviour previously, but that’s for voters to judge and decide.
“This is an election. We live in a democracy. For my part, in this campaign, I am focused on the interests of the country.”
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