Tempest on tour: The other Gordon threatening Salmond

Alex Salmond is standing in such an unsafe seat on Thursday that there is a chance that the SNP might win the election and have to govern without its leader.

We're in north-east Scotland, heading for Alex Salmond's own target seat of Gordon to see what voters there reckon to the man who could be Scotland's first minister in just 48 hours time.

Matthew Tempest in Scotland.
Photograph: Martin Argles.
Mr Salmond's position is interesting, not least because he currently isn't even a member of the Scottish parliament.

Instead he represents Banff and Buchan at Westminster, and is hoping to pull off the double whammy on Thursday of being elected both as an MSP and as first minister.

The seat he's chosen, Gordon, north of Aberdeen, is a curious one. Not only is it not currently a safe SNP seat - it's a long way from being one.

In 2003 the nationalists came third, behind the Liberal Democrats, who won, and the Tories, who came second.

Indeed, the seat is only the SNP's 19th most winnable target seat (although it does contain part of Mr Salmond's Westminster seat), and with Mr Salmond spending most of the campaign electioneering nationwide, there is a chance he won't win this seat.

Last night was my first time in Aberdeen, a handsome granite city which feels distinctly more north Scotland than cities to the south such as Dundee.

However, despite its reputation as an "oil town", much of the Victorian main street is empty and to let above ground level, and the squadrons of oil rig workers on leave and looking to spend their wages getting as merry as possible as fast as possible means you might want to pick your pub with care.

Even backstreet dives by the harbour were observing the Scottish no-smoking law, however.

Here's an interesting statistic. Out of the 129 MSPs at Holyrood, how many do you think come from ethnic minorities? Five? 10? One?

In fact, the answer is none. Zero. And there never has been one, in either of the two parliaments so far.

While the devolved body has been good at getting women into politics - around 40% of MSPs are female - it has a pretty shameful record on minorities.

We'll see if that dismal record improves somewhat on Friday.

Today the main party leaders are having their last televised head to head (11pm on STV), Alex Salmond is campaigning in East Kilbride (where we met candidate Linda Fabiana last Thursday), Tony Blair is thought to be visiting Edinburgh, Annabel Goldie is in jail - literally; she's visiting Barlinnie prison - and Solidarity's Tommy Sheridan is campaigning for a weekly wage of £100 for carers.

In the tartan press today, the Scottish Sun reports that Robbie Coltrane, among other Scottish celebs, is backing Labour, while the local paper up here, the Aberdeen Press and Journal, reports that "Highland tycoon" Sir Patrick Grant is voting SNP.

The Herald reveals that delays sending out postal vote ballot forms could deprive some people of their vote.