Nicola Sturgeon, the new SNP leader, has been given a boost with the launch of a new pro-independence paper, the National. Photograph: Murdo Macleod for the Guardian

The tabloid, whose banner will say “The newspaper that supports an independent Scotland”, will be priced at 50p, run to 32 pages and have a print run of about 50,000.

“The pilot launch of the National is a response to reader requests for a daily title which supports independence,” said Malcolm MacDonald, head of circulation at Herald and Times group, in a letter to retailers.

It will be edited by Richard Walker, who also edits the Sunday Herald.

The Sunday Herald was the only title in Scotland to come outin favour of independence before September’s referendum, which was won by the Better Together campaign. The paper saw a 111% year-on-year increase in circulation in the week of the referendum on Scottish independence.

Newsquest’s Glasgow-based daily sister title, the Herald, supported the no campaign, as did Johnston Press’s Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday.

The publisher, a subsidiary of the US media company Gannett, is launching the title as a pilot, and said if sales met expectations the newspaper would continue to be published.

One source with knowledge of the launch said the title sounded “very i-like”, a reference to the Independent’s cut-price spinoff, which has a skeleton staff and relies on its stablemate for most resources and content.

“The timing is good, the SNP has just passed 80,000 membersand Nicola Sturgeon has just been named as the first female first minister,” said the source. “They are riding a tidal wave of interest in nationalism. And national daily newspaper launches are very rare, even if it is just Scotland, even as a pilot it is a big deal.” Mark Sweney