Majority of Scots believe Salmond should not be included in TV leaders’ debates

Almost 60% of Scots believe Alex Salmond should not be included in televised leaders’ debates ahead of May’s Scottish Parliament election, according to exclusive new polling.

The opinion poll, carried out for The Sunday Post by Survation, found 59% of those asked believe the Alba Party leader should not be included in the broadcasts, while 27% said he should and a further 14% said they don’t know.

So far the leaders of all of Holyrood’s main political parties, including both co-leaders of the Scottish Greens and SNP depute leader Keith Brown – who filled in for Nicola Sturgeon during a BBC Question Time special – have appeared.

Mr Salmond accused the BBC and STV of “censoring” his party and “distorting the democratic process” after he was left out of previous debates. His solicitor has also written to the BBC to demand increased coverage ahead of May’s election.

Speaking earlier this month, the former first minister claimed Alba had become “the story of this election campaign” after securing “a membership greater than the Liberal Democrats and more MPS than the Labour Party”.

He accused broadcasters of operating “as if they were in a self-isolated political bubble in which the initiative that everyone else is talking about doesn’t even appear on their radar” and has written to watchdog Ofcom to complain.

Mr Salmond believes the inclusion of his party would help restore balance in future debates, with Alba, the Greens and the SNP backing independence, while Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives oppose.

He has also argued his inclusion would help to resolve the issue of Alba being repeatedly mentioned during the debates “with no recourse”.

It is understood this issue also led to a complaint being filed by Scotia Future – the party led by former SNP MSP Chic Brodie – after Alba was the only pro-independence list-only party referenced by name during the first televised debate.

But the latest polling – of more than 1,000 Scots last week – found the vast majority believe Mr Salmond should not appear alongside other leaders on the broadcasts.

Shadow secretary of state for Scotland Ian Murray said the figures show Scots “have no time for Alex Salmond’s politics of grievance and vendetta”.

“This election must be about our national recovery, not the settling of scores between big egos,” he said.

Alistair Carmichael, campaign chairman for the Scottish Liberal Democrats, was also scathing about Mr Salmond’s future in Scottish politics.

He said: “There’s no question about the future of Scottish politics to which the answer is Alex Salmond, and it appears that the Scottish public have his number.

“The public want politicians who will put the recovery first, not politicians who will put their own grudges and egos first.”

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has previously said she “objectively” cannot see how the Alba Party meets the conditions for having a leader included but added that it is a matter for the broadcasters and Ofcom to rule on.

A Scottish Greens spokesman said: “The Alba party has no MSPS and is not polling high enough to elect any so, like many other smaller parties, there is no justification for including them in TV debates.”

An Alba Party spokesman said that after being established four weeks ago, the party is “registering on every poll to date and we have polled that we are on course to helping elect a supermajority of pro-independence MSPS to the Scottish Parliament”.

This is despite the Survation poll finding Alex Salmond is less popular than Boris Johnson with Scottish voters and his Alba Party is projected to secure just 3% of the regional list vote, needing a late surge to win any seats.

The spokesman added: “It is encouraging that despite a lack of broadcast coverage, and indeed continued hostile coverage from certain broadcasters, approaching one-third of voters want Alba and Alex Salmond included in debates.

“This is on top of a previous poll in which 75% thought it was completely fair that Alba were included in this election, and of SNP voters this figure was 90%.”

STV and the BBC have justified their exclusion of Alba in the debates.

STV said coverage “has been, and will continue to be, balanced and fully in accordance with the strict Ofcom guidelines upon which we make our editorial decisions”.

A BBC statement read: “We are looking, as we always do at this stage in an election campaign, at our plans for coverage in line with our guidelines and Ofcom’s guidance.”

COMPLAINT: Mr Salmond accused the BBC and STV of “censoring” his party and “distorting the democratic process” after he was left out of previous debates.