NICOLA Sturgeon anticipates that May’s Holyrood election will still be held despite the Covid-19 pandemic but warned that physical distancing is likely to still be in place.

Contingency plans for May’s election have been drawn up, and the First Minister said there may be a need for postal voting to play more of a role if the virus is still active across Scotland.

Ms Sturgeon was asked about the election at her daily coronavirus briefing.

She said: "There is contingency planning being done and it is being done as far as possible on a cross-party basis – legislative contingency is being taken forward, just to make sure we are prepared for any eventuality come the time of the Scottish Parliament election in May.

“I’ve said repeatedly all along, I think it’s vital that election happens – I have no reason to believe that it will not happen. But the way in which it happens, depending on the spread of the virus, may be affected.

“There may be a need for greater postal voting, there will no doubt be practical considerations that returning officers have to take into account if physical distancing is still in place, which at the moment, I should certainly thing we should assume will be.”

The latest polls predict the SNP is set to secure a majority at May’s election, with the governing party insisting this would give the party a mandate to demand a second Scottish independence referendum.