SNP seeking election ‘opportunities’

Alex Salmond will address his party’s conference in Aviemore

SNP leader Alex Salmond will tell his party’s conference in Aviemore that a hung parliament at Westminster would be “redolent with opportunity”.

Mr Salmond is also expected to disclose plans for a joint campaign with Plaid Cymru on issues they will seek progress on in the event of a hung parliament.

For Scotland, that may include the extension of high speed rail and access to additional public funding.

The party’s conference is taking place over Saturday and Sunday.

Mr Salmond will tell delegates that the coming UK general election can provide the party with an opportunity to extract concessions for Scotland.

An SNP spokesman said: “The joint platform will reflect areas where we can secure real progress for Scotland, and will be a powerful platform for the SNP’s campaign focused on the need to elect local champions.

“The local champions theme will be a strong and central aspect of Alex’s speech.”

The conference opened by paying tribute to the former party leader Billy Wolfe, who died on Thursday, with a one-minute silence.

Mr Wolfe helped drive the party’s breakthrough at Westminster in the 1970s.