Tom Gordon

THE SNP and Tories have both launched new posters featuring Nicola Sturgeon.

The SNP's, which will appear at 400 sites and on six mobile ad trucks, shows the First Minister and the slogan "My vow is to make Scotland stronger at Westminster".

A postcard of the image will also be delivered to 2.4m homes, starting with mailshots to the 800,000 voters who receive their postal ballots this week.

The less flattering Tory poster depicts Sturgeon as Ed Miliband's puppeteer above the words "More taxes, more borrowing, more debt."

Conservative party chairman Grant Shapps said: "Labour are collapsing in Scotland. This means the only way that Ed Miliband might crawl through the gates of No10 now is if he's carried there by the SNP. Nicola Sturgeon would pull the strings and demand weaker defences, more spending and unaffordable welfare hand-outs. It would be a disaster."