A GLASGOW councillor has become the latest SNP politician to quit the SNP to join Alex Salmond's new Alba Party.
Michelle Ferns, who represents the Shettleston ward, will stand on the Glasgow list in May's Holyrood elections.
Ferns is known for her role in settling the Glasgow City Council landmark equal pay dispute.
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 told The National 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.
READ MORE: SNP braced for more defections to Alba, says insider
There has been a intense speculation that Angus MacNeil 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.
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, 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.
On Friday, Chris McEleny, 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.
READ MORE: Viewers across Scotland react to launch of Alex Salmond's Alba Party
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.
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.”
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