Salmond has problem as MSP falls pregnant

The SNP has only 47 out of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and will need every vote it can muster on controversial issues. Ms Constance, 36, said she had not considered how much maternity leave she might take.

But she played down concerns about the opposition forcing crucial votes while she is off.

She said: "If need be, my mum lives in Edinburgh - she can push the pram round Holyrood Park while I come in and vote."

Ms Constance, a former West Lothian councillor, won Livingston from Labour at the May 3 elections notching up a majority of 870. She said she and her husband, Garry Knox, 37, who works in marketing, were both looking forward to being parents. "It's a very exciting time," she said. "It's a big change for both of us.

"I'm getting all the changes over with at once - getting elected, having a baby."

She hopes to have the baby at home or in St John's Hospital, Livingston. In the longer term, she said she would just have to manage the responsibilities of motherhood and representing the constituency.

She said: "I will be no different from any other working mother. I'll just have to get on with it and meet my obligations at home and at work, like 75 per cent of women. Several other MSPs have had babies. I'm getting tips from my colleague [West of Scotland MSP] Stuart McMillan - his wife had a baby just before the election."

In his first speech as First Minister, Mr Salmond signalled his new SNP government would work to build consensus.

But there will still be controversial issues, including Edinburgh's trams, the Edinburgh Airport Rail Link, local income tax and the promised independence referendum, where there are likely to be showdowns.

With the tight arithmetic in the chamber, every vote could be vital. But an SNP spokesman claimed the party did not believe there would be a problem with Ms Constance taking her maternity leave.

"We're absolutely delighted for Angela," he said. "We don't have any concerns." Because MSPs are not employees, there are no rules or conditions on their maternity leave. A parliament source said: "It's up to MSPs to decide how much or how little time they take off in these circumstances."

Ms Constance ousted Labour's Bristow Muldoon in the Holyrood elections on May 3 to become West Lothian's first SNP MSP.

Several other women have had babies since being elected to the Scottish Parliament, including Lothians SNP MSP Fiona Hyslop, former Edinburgh East & Musselburgh Labour MSP Susan Deacon, Scottish Nationalist Shona Robison, Labour's Karen Gillon - who has had two children - and Wendy Alexander, who gave birth to twins.