Election 2015: Salmond facing battle in his bid to write next chapter in Gordon

Meanwhile, at a nearby signing event, said author has attracted devotees from far and wide. "He's a hero," says Calum Calder, who has his copy despite saying he can't recall the last time he read something from start to finish. John Burns joins the back of the queue, which spirals out of the store and almost outside the shopping centre. "He's worth waiting for," he beams. "I'd have brought a tent if I had to." More people turn up than the number of delegates at the LibDems' conference, the protagonist gleefully points out, after he signs the last copy an hour and a half after he had been scheduled to depart.

This is no normal candidate, and there is nothing normal about this election.

When Alex Salmond announced his candidacy on a crisp December morning in Ellon and promised to "rumble up" Westminster, he ensured that the eyes of the UK would be on the largely rural constituency of Gordon this May. An affluent and picturesque corner of the north-east, the River Don snakes through a sprawling constituency which takes in the northern outskirts of Aberdeen as well as the towns of Ellon, Kintore, Huntly and Inverurie.

In 2010, LibDem grandee Sir Malcolm won with 17,575 votes ahead of the SNP, Tories and Labour with around 10,000 each. The Aberdeenshire public voted by a margin of two-to-one against independence in November, but an Ashcroft constituency poll has indicated that Mr Salmond is likely to win the seat comfortably, putting him at 43 per cent, 17 points ahead of the LibDems. Labour trailed on 14 per cent with the Tories at 11.

The LibDems have insisted the personal popularity of their MPs such as Charlie Kennedy may yet see them confound harrowing polls, but in Gordon, popular Sir Malcolm, who has represented the area since 1983, is standing down, with Christine Jardine, a journalist and lecturer, taking his place as the party's candidate.

In the constituency, much like the rest of Scotland, the former First Minister polarises opinion. Even within marriages, he proves divisive. "I vote for characters rather than parties, and he's very charismatic," says David Sherriffs, from Bridge of Don, a suburb to the north of Aberdeen. "I think he's well liked here," adds the 55-year-old, who works for a firm that makes tools for the oil industry. "I've voted LibDem before, I've gone Green once or twice, but I'm an SNP man now." Meanwhile, his wife, Christine, also one of the thousands here whose job is dependent on oil, appears to have got a nasty whiff when Mr Salmond's name is mentioned. "I'm not overly keen," she says, adding that she got the impression he enjoyed the perks of the job rather too much as First Minister. Others go so far as to say that the personality of Mr Salmond makes them less likely to back the Nationalists, even where they would normally consider a vote for the party. "I think he's untrustworthy," remarks Steven Ogston, a 33-year-old mechanical engineer taking a stroll through Inverurie. "The attention will be on him, rather than the seat. I'd consider voting SNP, but I'd be more likely to if it wasn't him."

The strength of feeling the SNP figurehead provokes has led to suggestions that in Gordon, voters who have no desire to see Mr Salmond as their MP will unite behind a unionist candidate in a bid to put the man who almost broke up the UK in his place.

The incumbents have openly advocated tactical voting, with Lord Ashdown saying private polling had suggested his party could win the seat, "provided people realise that the right way to ensure that Mr Salmond does not end up in parliament is to vote Liberal Democrat."

Non-party campaign groups have also been set up in a bid to encourage tactical voting against SNP candidates. One, Scotland in Union, is believed to have a particular interest in Gordon following reports that some Conservative voters were planning to vote for Ms Jardine in a bid to thwart Mr Salmond's return to the Commons.

It is a factor that indicates the battle in the constituency is set to become increasingly nasty in the weeks ahead, with LibDem strategists also indicating they are willing to play dirty as they prepare a blitzkrieg against the Nationalists.

Ms Jardine says that she has been working for more than a year to gain support and is canvassing every day. She says Mr Salmond's record at Holyrood is a potent weapon in the LibDem armoury. NHS Grampian has lurched from crisis to crisis over the past 18 months, she believes as a result of the health board not being given a fair share of funding from Holyrood. She jokes that she feels she is joined at the hip with Sir Malcolm on the campaign trail, with voters left in no doubt who he has ordained as his successor.

"People are not happy with him," she says about Mr Salmond. "They want an MP to stand up on the issues that matter here, and the north-east has been short-changed. He's behaving as if he's already an MP, and talking like he's still the leader of the SNP. People are getting a bit fed up with it. He seems to be spending more time selling his book in Edinburgh and London, and his whole campaign is about independence, which is not what people here want. He might think he's a shoo-in, but he's not.

"We're getting support from all over the place because people can see it's a two-horse race, the Tories haven't been strong here for 30 years. For Alex Salmond, it seems to be about Alex Salmond and the SNP. For us, it's about Gordon."

But a question remains over whether they have the resources to go to war over a seat that Mr Salmond is 1/7 at the bookies to pick up while, with a certain section of voters, the coalition with the Tories has proved toxic.

"The LibDems won't get in here," says one elderly voter in Inverurie. "I've always liked Malcolm Bruce and voted for him, but now I'm not sure, I think they'll come a cropper. If they hadn't linked up with the Tories, it might have been a different story. I'm not a fan of Alex Salmond but they seem to be doing pretty well here."

The Liberal Democrat conference, held almost across the road from where the boundaries to Gordon start, attracted just 300 delegates over a weekend, with a small hall half-empty when Nick Clegg delivered a pre-election rallying call to his troops.

Attracting support is not a problem for Mr Salmond. In Oldmeldrum, around 15 SNP volunteers spend their Saturday morning canvassing in his absence, while he is on tour promoting his referendum diary. Along with their centrally issued hi-vis jackets bearing a "Stronger for Scotland" slogan they have had badges made promoting his candidacy - coming in six different designs - to raise money for the campaign. Meanwhile, a crowdfunding page has so far attracted more than £13,000 in more than 300 small donations, smashing an initial target of just £5,000. The cash behind the SNP, as well as a new army of footsoldiers following a huge increase in membership, is formidable.

"We've gone from a membership of 100 to nearly 600," says Duncan Gill, organiser of the Ellon SNP branch. "It is definitely a strength having Alex, he's so recognisable, a different league. He comes out with us every Monday and people can't believe it's Alex Salmond strolling about. It's getting people more interested.

"Knocking the doors up here, the Tories seem proud of voting Tory, but the LibDems seem to be keeping their heads down. They're making a lot of Malcolm Bruce, he's on every piece of their literature. I had one person even saying they're voting for Malcolm Bruce. But we're quietly confident."

Rhona Manson, who is also leafleting for Mr Salmond, has been an SNP member for 28 years but says local support has exploded since September. She says that while 60 per cent voted against independence in the county, she blames "economic scaremongering" and believes at least one third of No voters are sympathetic to independence.

"There's always been a reliable Conservative vote here, because of the economics of the area in that it's mainly very prosperous," she says. "But there are a lot of disaffected liberals, and it will be interesting to see how they will vote. I think the SNP has proved itself in Government in Scotland. They used to make us out as a Mickey Mouse party, and they can't do that anymore."

And while Labour is widely seen to have abandoned all hope, the Tories believe they can make inroads. The party has furiously rejected claims it was set to step aside to allow the LibDems a clear run at their arch nemesis. Their candidate, Colin Clark, is adamant that he is in with a shout of upsetting odds of 50/1 against a Tory win.

A farmer and businessman tipped as regional candidate for Holyrood next year if, as seems likely, he is not elected an MP, he says it was a debate involving his opponent that turned his interest in politics into involvement.

"What pushed me over the edge was watching Alistair Darling debating with Alex Salmond during the referendum," he recalls. "Alex Salmond asks what job-creating powers we will get with further devolution. I was yelling at the telly, 'Governments don't create jobs, the private sector creates jobs'. You create the environment and the culture for employment, you don't create the jobs."

He shares Ms Jardine's belief that the SNP have neglected the north-east by channelling money from the area, hitting the NHS and infrastructure, particularly roads. But he has no time for the claim that tactical voting for an "anyone but Alex" candidate will prove a decisive factor.

"Maybe one in 20 of the people we speak to mention tactical voting," says the father of one, who claims to have knocked on 5,000 doors in eight weeks. "The vast majority will vote with their conscience. It's a chattering class issue, and the last hope of a party without leadership.

"The LibDems are polling at 4 per cent nationally, and people don't understand why they should vote for them if you take Malcolm Bruce out of it. That's why they're banging on about tactical voting and casting Alex Salmond as a bogeyman, saying don't vote for us, vote against him.

"We have a positive message. This isn't a constituency of grievance, it's one of aspiration and achievement. We're asking people whether they want the recovery to carry on, and here people can see it's working. The Budget could have been written for north-east Scotland, with what it did for the oil and whisky industries."

He points to the European elections - the last time voters had a chance to back the LibDems in Aberdeenshire. The party polled 14 per cent, compared to 25 per cent for the Tories and 31 per cent for SNP. Another 12 per cent voted for Ukip, a sizeable proportion of whom Clark insists will back him at a General Election. Although turnout was low, he argues the Tories are a natural fit for an area he describes as a "private sector business success story," where less than 1 per cent of the working-age population - by far the lowest in the country - claim unemployment benefit.

He adds: "Do we have one MP? Yes. But that hides the fact that we nearly got as many votes as the Liberals and the SNP in 2010. We're not the dead party in Scotland. The Conservatives have to re-engage with people and show them what we stand for is recovery of the economy and giving everybody an opportunity, trying to empower people."

But like many of the battles taking place across Scotland, comparisons with previous elections have their limitations. Mr Salmond, like all SNP candidates, will be able to rely on a new generation of voters energised by the referendum. Only 40 per cent may have backed independence in Aberdeenshire, but if a large majority of those who voted Yes in Gordon stick with Mr Salmond, it should be more than enough in a first-past-the-post race.

Mark Groundwater, a storeman in Huntly, says he never previously voted before September. But after being convinced of the merits of independence, he has maintained his interest in politics and will vote for the former First Minister. "I think he's done a lot for this country, and still has a lot to do," he says. "I really like him and I'm fed up with Westminster. My family is mixed, people seem to love him or loathe him, with not much in between. But I'm delighted he's standing here and I'd love it if he was my MP."

Louise Barnett, 34, walking past the town's war memorial with daughter Alexis will also vote SNP. "I like him and what he stands for," she says. "I'd never voted before the referendum, but I felt it was too big of an opportunity to pass up. Now I've done that, I'm sticking with the SNP." Wayne Gormley, a Huntly structural engineer, echoes the sentiment.

"We need to have a bigger say in Scotland," he says. "I think Alex Salmond is a good person. I know he's never going to be a minister for the whole of the UK, but I respect what he believes in.

"Labour are a waste of time, they ran the country into the ground. The Liberal Democrats haven't got any influence, I think we'll only get a say with the SNP."

Mr Salmond was typically bullish about his chances on hearing the LibDems insist they can deny him a Commons return. "In that case, I would advise the Liberal Democrats to put some of their ill-gotten gains from their shady donors on at the nearest Ladbrokes and they can recover their party's fortunes, if they're so confident," he said.

"Many people will vote for me for tactical reasons. But you win elections by getting people to vote for you because they believe in you. When you have to cast around, as the Liberals are trying to do, it's a sign of desperation. I'm perfectly happy to let the people of Gordon decide."