NICOLA Sturgeon will be in London just hours after the general election, enabling her to start a dialogue with Labour in the event of a hung parliament.

The First Minister is due to fly to the capital on Friday morning to mark VE day.

She and other political leaders will attend a remembrance service at the Cenotaph observing the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe.

Although the timing is a coincidence, it places Sturgeon in the thick of the political horse-trading, where she hopes to influence who becomes the next Prime Minister.

A source close to Sturgeon said she would "be available for whatever is required".

Sturgeon's central pitch to voters is that a large group of SNP MPs could lock David Cameron out of power and then influence and improve a Labour government.

On Thursday's BBC TV debate, Labour leader Ed Miliband said he would rather not be in government than do a deal with the SNP to enter Downing Street.

However shadow health secretary Andy Burnham later rowed back on that position.

An SNP strategist also told the Sunday Herald his party was not worried about Miliband's statement.

While Labour and the SNP would not enter a formal coalition or even a looser confidence-and-supply arrangement, by voting together against David Cameron they could ensure only Miliband had a Commons majority and make him Prime Minister.

Without the need for an overarching deal, there could then be vote-by-vote "dealings" to get legislation through the Commons.

Former Cabinet Secretary Lord O'Donnell last week said the outcome of the election could lead to calls for reform of the voting system at Westminster.

He pointed out the SNP could win Scotland, the Tories could win England, and yet Labour could end up leading the government.

"People will think at the end of this, are there better systems?" he said.

The SNP wants to replace first-past-the-past with a proportional voting system.

It emerged last night that the SNP is closing in on the Tories in terms of membership.

The Nationalists now have over 110,000 members, compared to just under 150,000 for the UK Conservatives, around 200,000 for Labour and 44,000 for the LibDems.

The SNP also raked in so much money during the independence campaign that it does not expect to declare any sizeable donations before May 7.