Nicola Sturgeon yesterday vowed to prop up Ed Miliband in Downing Street – even if he loses the election . In her most extraordinary offer yet the nationalist leader called on the Labour leader to help her ‘ lock ’ David Cameron out of Downing Street . And crucially , she said the offer stood ‘ regardless of who is the biggest party ’ in the House of Commons . Scroll down for video . Nicola Sturgeon ( pictured ) said she would try to 'lock David Cameron out of Downing Street ' regardless of whether the Tories finished as the largest party next month . Her comments raise the prospect of Mr Miliband ending up in Number 10 as a result of nationalist support despite having fewer seats in the House of Commons than the Tories . Miss Sturgeon ’ s latest offer came amid continued fallout from claims she told a French diplomat she wanted David Cameron to remain as Prime Minister . The report of the conversation , on February 26 , between Miss Sturgeon and Sylvie Bermann , the French Ambassador , was contained within a Scotland Office memo leaked to the Daily Telegraph . The claim was denied both by the French embassy and Miss Sturgeon . Miss Sturgeon also denied a separate claim in the memo that Mr Miliband is ‘ not Prime Minister material ’ . It undermines the SNP leader ’ s claim that she wants to build a progressive alliance with Labour to keep the Conservatives out of office . The SNP ’ s opponents say it would favour another Tory-led government , against which it could campaign in an attempt to make an ‘ out ’ vote more likely in another referendum . In an article for the Observer addressed to Mr Miliband she wrote : ‘ If together our parties have the parliamentary numbers required after 7 May , and regardless of which is the biggest party , will he and Labour join with us in locking David Cameron out of Downing Street ? ’ Ed Miliband has ruled out going into Coalition with SNP but has not rejected the prospect of working with them . Chancellor George Osborne said the prospect of the SNP propping up the Labour Party in power was an 'alliance between a party that wants to bankrupt the country and a party that wants to break up the country ' Her comments heaped pressure on Labour to rule out any deal with the nationalists . Labour has ruled out a formal coalition with the SNP but has refused to say if it would enter a looser agreement on policy areas to stay in power . Tory chief whip Michael Gove said : ‘ My concern is that if the SNP win the number of seats they are projected to , they could hold the balance of power and hold Labour leader Ed Miliband to ransom. ’ Miss Sturgeon is calling for a £180billion debt-fuelled public spending spree and an end to the Trident nuclear deterrent . Former cabinet minister Peter Hain told Radio 4 ’ s The World This Weekend he said : ‘ It is a curious plea being made by Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP : vote anything except Labour to get a Labour government . That makes no sense at all. ’ A Panelbase poll released yesterday put the SNP , on 45 per cent , with Labour on 29 per cent . If repeated across Scotland , the poll findings suggest the SNP would win 29 of the 41 seats won by Labour in 2010 . A BBC reporter said he suffered an onslaught of ‘ vicious abuse ’ from Scottish Nationalists simply for asking Nicola Sturgeon about the claims that she would prefer David Cameron to remain as Prime Minister . Scotland correspondent James Cook was called ‘ scum of the earth ’ and ‘ lying scum ’ by SNP supporters on Twitter . One wrote that Mr Cook was ‘ in the gutter ’ and trying to ‘ hide his SNP hatred ’ , while another accused him of being a ‘ typical BBC/Westminster mouthpiece ’ . On Saturday Mr Cook wrote on the site : ‘ What an extraordinary level of vicious abuse I have received today for simply reporting the news . Is this the country we want folks ? Is it ? ’ He added : ‘ Of course there are some SNP strategists – I know , I ’ ve spoken to them – who say in private a Tory victory would hasten independence . ‘ Of course I should ask tough questions of politicians . This is a democracy . This is my role in it . And finally if , despite my 23 years of reporting things straight , you think I simply make up conversations then do feel free to unfollow me. ’ Miss Sturgeon later praised Mr Cook in an apparent attempt to calm the situation . She tweeted : ‘ James Cook is one of the best journalists in Scotland . Tough but scrupulously fair and a consummate professional . ’
SNP chief says she would work with Labour regardless of election results . She urged the opposition leader to agree not to ' lock Cameron out ' , after claim she told French diplomat she favoured Cameron as PM . a Whitehall probe was ordered after she dismissed memo as untrue .