SPECULATION is mounting that the SNP's treasurer Douglas Chapman MP is to be named as the third MP to defect to the Alba Party.

Chapman was first elected to Westminster as MP for Dunfermline and West Fife in 2015, and took on the key role of party national treasurer in November last year.

He is known to be close to Kenny MacAskill, the East Lothian MP who joined Alex Salmond's new Alba Party last week.

Neale Hanvey, the Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath SNP MP, switched to Alba yesterday.

Chapman is currently a member of the SNP's finance and economy policy group and is the party's shadow small business and innovation spokesman.

The National has repeatedly tried to contact Chapman over whether he is moving to the Alba Party but he has not responded to our inquiries.

An aide told us he could not help us with the inquiry and put the phone down when we asked if what we had heard was true.

MacAskill's switch was met with fury by his boss Ian Blackford who on Saturday poured scorn on his former colleague describing him "an increasing embarrassment" and that his departure was "somewhat of a relief ".

If Chapman does defect to Alba, he would be the third SNP MP to do so as well as the third member of the party's ruling body, the national executive committee.

Women's convener Councillor Caroline McAllister and equalities convener Councillor Lynne Anderson resigned their SNP membership and joined the Alba Party at the weekend.

Plan B architect Chris McEleny was announced as one of Alba's recruits by Salmond at his press conference on Friday.

Speculation also continues on whether Western Isles MP Angus MacNeil, a prominent critic of Nicola Sturgeon's independence strategy and an advocate of an alternative plan will be among those moving to the Alba Party.

Earlier this month it was reported Chapman told a party meeting that there was £1.5 million in party coffers for the election campaign and £600,000 for referendum planning.

At the same meeting members of the finance and audit committee demanded to see the party's full accounts.

Insiders told the Mail on Sunday that three members of the committee resigned when Peter Murrell, the SNP's chief executive and husband of the First Minister, refused.

According to sources, the three members who resigned from the SNP committee were Frank Ross, an Edinburgh councillor and former Lord Provost, Allison Graham of Mid Scotland and Fife, and Cynthia Guthrie, a company director - who is now a member of the Alba Party.

Earlier today the Sun reported that told senior figures have been pondering over the weekend if MacNeil has "bottled it".

He did not respond to inquiries from The National last night.

The Times is today reporting that a "big hitter" will be joining the party but it is unconfirmed whether it is an SNP MP.

One insider has told The National that 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.

This morning, it was announced that Glasgow councillor Michelle Ferns has left the SNP for Alba.

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.

Former SNP MP Corri Wilson also announced she has joined the Alba Party.

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.

McEleny and McAllister are to stand on the West of Scotland regional list and Anderson on the Central Scotland list.

Lawyer Eva Comrie will be standing in the Mid Scotland and Fife region. Comrie was previously an SNP candidate for this list.

Guthrie, CEO, of the Guthrie Group, will stand in South of Scotland.

The moves come as the First Minister made a veiled criticism of the Alba Party in her speech to the SNP campaign conference.

In an address broadcast on social media, she hit out at those “who treat politics like a game”.

Sturgeon said: “In politics, things that once seemed so desperately important, don’t seem so now.

“I don’t have much time these days for the ‘who’s up, who’s down’ approach to politics. And I definitely have much less patience for those who treat politics like a game and for anyone that indulges self-interest ahead of the country’s best interests."

The SNP leader added: “If the past year has taught us anything, it is that politics is about improving people’s lives, or it is about nothing at all. And that takes purpose and it takes hard work.

“The pandemic has also, for me, reinforced some fundamental principles of leadership. It is important to always treat people like adults, and to lead like a grown-up too. Don’t pretend to be infallible, learn from your mistakes – don’t deny those mistakes.”

Over the weekend, Salmond insisted Sturgeon was the best person to lead Scotland.

He 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.”

The Alba Party did not respond to inquiries regarding Chapman.

An SNP source said he believed Chapman was out campaigning.