Nicola Sturgeon has denied saying she wants David Cameron to be Prime Minister.
The Telegraph newspaper reported leaked minutes of a conversation with the French Ambassador where the First Minister apparently revealed her preference for the Conservative leader to be in Downing Street, despite consistently vowing to “lock him out” if the SNP hold the balance of power after next month’s general election.
Sources close to Ms Surgeon did not deny the veracity of the memorandum, instead questioning its content.
“This is categorically untrue,” one senior figure told The Courier.
“Remember, it’s a British Government document which is about four steps removed from the original conversation.”
Ms Sturgeon tweeted: “(The) story is categorically, 100%, untrue.”
According to the report, the memorandum details a private meeting between Miss Sturgeon and Sylvie Bermann, the French Ambassador to the UK.
Written by a senior British civil servant and dated March 6, it states: “The Ambassador… had a truncated meeting with the FM [Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister] (FM running late after a busy Thursday).
“Discussion appears to have focused mainly on the political situation, with the FM stating that she wouldn’t want a formal coalition with Labour; that the SNP would almost certainly have a large number of seats… that she’d rather see David Cameron remain as PM (and didn’t see Ed Miliband as PM material).”
The conversation was said to have taken place in English.
A No.10 insider defended the veracity of the leaked minutes.
They said: “It is highly unlikely diplomats or civil servants would have written something which is not accurate or verbatim.”
Speaking as she campaigned before the leak emerged, Ms Sturgeon said: “If the SNP and Labour combined have more MPs than the Tories do if there is an anti-Tory majority we can lock David Cameron out of Downing Street.
“I’ve challenged Ed Miliband, and I do so again: if we have that anti-Tory majority, the SNP has said we will vote to stop a Tory government even getting off the ground.”
A spokesperson for the First Minister said: “As the First Minister has said, this story which is based on a UK Government document is categorically, 100 per cent untrue.
“It must be a belated April Fool.
“As Nicola has said on numerous occasions, she wants to see the back of a Tory government which is decisively rejected by the people of Scotland and unlike Labour, the SNP is the only party that had promised to lock David Cameron out of Downing Street.”