ALEX Salmond has called for the next Holyrood election, in which his Alba party has its best chance of getting elected, to be a ‘de facto’ referendum on independence.

The former First Minister laid out the plan to use the poll as a “vehicle” for Scots to have their say after his party held a Way Forward conference in Perth on Saturday.

The idea is a clear rejection of Nicola Sturgeon’s plan to fight the next Westminster election as a de facto referendum on ending the Union.

Five Supreme Court justices unanimously ruled in October that Holyrood cannot stage Indyref2 under its current powers without Westminster’s express consent.

The decision was a blow to Ms Sturgeon, who had asked her most senior law officer, the Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC to seek a ruling from the Court on the issue.

Ms Sturgeon confirmed she would move ahead with a de facto referendum instead, with a special SNP conference in the spring being held to thrash out details.

But Mr Salmond, who has said using the general election this way would be difficult, said the Holyrood election was the better option, despite it adding at least a year to the process. 

The next general election must be held by January 2025, and the Holyrood vote is May 2026.

Alba flopped humiliatingly at the 2021 Holyrood election and the 2022 local election, and is likely to lose its two MPs - the SNP defectors Kenny MacAskill and Neale Hanvey - at the next general election.

However the Holyrood election gives Alba a chance of getting MSPs elected, with just 5 or 6 per cent of the list vote enough for a win under the additional member system.

Mr Salmond said his party’s conference backed an independence convention to prepare for life after the Union, and using a “Holyrood plebiscite” to advance the cause. 

He said: “The clear outcome from this event is that the Yes movement is hereby reconvened.

“The decision by the Supreme Court to deny the right of the Scottish Parliament to hold an independence referendum and the continuing refusal of the UK Government to transfer the power to hold a referendum present clear challenges to Scottish democracy and the sovereign will of the Scottish people.

“How the movement responds now is critical if we are to turn the failure of the Supreme Court tactic into a strategic victory for the independence cause.”

His conference had agreed upon three strategies.

He said: “This weekend’s event has crystallised three immediate priorities: an Independence Convention, popular demonstration and campaigning and a clear preference for using a Scottish Parliament Election as the vehicle for allowing the Scottish people to express their view on independence if Westminster continue to refuse to transfer the power to Holyrood.”