ALEX Salmond has admitted his Alba Party is unlikely to make an electoral breakthrough as initial results showed it has failed to attract support.
The former First Minister suggested the election "was perhaps too early to make the breakthrough we were looking for".
Speaking to Bauer Media earlier in the day, he appeared to play down expectations by saying success for Alba was simply “registering as a political party” and on the political spectrum.
Alba candidates stood on the regional lists across Scotland in the hope of attracting votes from pro-independence Scots. The party argues list votes are “wasted” on the SNP.
Mr Salmond launched Alba on March 26 with the intention of creating a “supermajority” of Yes MSPs to put pressure on Boris Johnson to concede Indyref2 or legitimise other tactics.
However polls suggested it would get one or two MSPs at most.
It received a 2.07 per cent share in the regional vote in the Aberdeen Donside constituency. Snapshots from other areas were also poor, with Alba behind the Family Party in two. The full list results will be declared tomorrow.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Salmond said: "Whether we will make it tomorrow, I don't think so on the results we've seen.
"But we've put up a good, substantial show and I think probably we'll take out of this election that the arguments we've been putting forward are going to be proven to be correct.
"Firstly that independence should be front and centre of election campaigns if we want to persuade people to vote for it.
"And secondly, it looks like, although it's not certain just now, that the SNP will be poised on an overall majority but there won't be the backing in terms of the enthusiasm for getting on with the independence referendum.
"And crucially, it seems that perhaps a million, perhaps even more than a million, SNP votes on the regional list are going to elect perhaps one, perhaps two MSPs on that section of the ballot paper across Scotland. What a waste."
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