Alex Cole-Hamilton: If you want change you don’t have to settle for Reform

Twelve months ago, I was writing in the aftermath of a dramatic general election. This past year there was no national electoral test, but we are just eight months from the Scottish election.

It’s been a busy year for the Scottish Liberal Democrats. It feels like there has been a sea change in the mood of Scottish politics and we are about to take a massive leap forward. 

So why do I think we will be in for a good night next May? Because every week I get out on the doorsteps speaking to voters and people are seeing that the Scottish Liberal Democrats are winning, working hard, and already delivering for people across the country. 

Over the last year, my party has exposed the huge scandal of long waits for mental health care, published reports on care homes closing across vast swathes of the country, and in budget negotiations we have delivered progress towards long overdue replacements for the Edinburgh Eye Pavilion and the Belford Hospital in Fort William.

The other parties have let you down. They’ve had years in government to sort things out – and failed.

The Conservatives have learned nothing from the disastrous reigns of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. They crashed the economy and people are still paying the price, yet Kemi Badenoch says she is done with apologies and insists that she would slash public services.

It’s that kind of attitude which shows exactly why her party has lost the public’s trust and why former Conservative MSP Jamie Greene sensationally defected to the Liberal Democrats earlier this year. Jamie speaks for a massive constituency of people who are dismayed to see the Conservative Party aping Nigel Farage and lurching to extremes. If you are the kind of sensible, moderate voter who took a chance on Ruth Davidson’s Conservatives, now is the time to follow in Jamie’s footsteps.

In 2024, we turned some of the Conservatives’ safest seats Lib Dem gold. Now I want to overtake them at Holyrood too.

At Westminster, Labour hardly came to power on a wave of enthusiasm. Voters mostly just felt it was time to turf the Tories and SNP out. Still, from cutting winter fuel payments to their failure to end the two-child cap, they’ve been terribly disappointing. On a visit to the Border Union show in Kelso recently, one farmer said to me of the family farm tax, “Does Keir Starmer ever even think about where food comes from?” The voters of rural Scotland deserve a champion and they need look no further than the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

Finally, we come to the Scottish nationalists. I’ve knocked on thousands of doors and so many people say they are ready for a change after years of the SNP letting them down.

John Swinney has been at the heart of failed SNP government after failed SNP government.
He was finance secretary and the Scottish economy is barely growing. He was education secretary and violence in schools is soaring. He’s the politician who deleted Covid WhatsApp messages, depriving bereaved families of answers, and he defended Michael Matheson’s iPad bill. People deserve better. It is time to turf him and his party out.

Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats put the NHS and care at the heart of our manifesto and our general election campaign last year. Ed Davey opened up on his role as a carer for his severely disabled son John, calling for new support for millions of unpaid carers looking after their loved ones.

When the results were in, we returned more MPs than the Scottish Conservatives and came within touching distance of the SNP, defeating them in vast swathes of Scotland.

Since then, more and more people across the UK have experienced the benefits of having a Liberal Democrat representative who will fight your corner. A representative who is not afraid to fight for carers; for those waiting for operations and appointments and for those waiting on a care package.

And while Labour and the Conservatives put their heads in the sand, we’re not afraid to talk about rebuilding ties with Europe too. That’s why we’ve led the way in calling for a new customs union, expanding youth mobility and working with our European allies to push back against both Putin’s Russia and Trump’s America.

Next year, I want to give every Scot a Liberal Democrat champion that they can rely on.

That starts by adding MSPs to the areas where we returned MPs in last year’s election. If you live in seats like Inverness & Nairn, Strathkelvin & Bearsden, Edinburgh Northern or Skye, Lochaber & Badenoch and already have a hard-working Lib Dem MP, you deserve that representation at Holyrood as well.

Then we will be targeting list seats in every region of the country. From the north-east where roads are crumbling and fishing communities feel abandoned to the south of Scotland where people are struggling to see a GP, we will be campaigning fiercely to convince voters to back us on the peach-coloured regional ballot.

From Stranraer to Shetland, Skye to St Andrews, Scotland has so much going for it, but everywhere I go, people say that right now things feel broken. They can’t get a doctor’s appointment, or their ferries are cancelled again, or their parents can’t get a care home place.

People are tired and frustrated. They’re right to be.

But they don’t have to turn to Reform to get change. Nigel Farage talks the language of change but in reality he stands for a darker kind of politics. When he’s flying around by private jet, or in America helping Donald Trump, he’s certainly not out there talking to ordinary people about their long wait to see a GP. If you want change, you don’t have to settle for Reform.

For me and my party the number one issue is the state of the health service. The equivalent of one in six Scots is now on a waiting list and the SNP are all out of answers. Waiting times never used to be this bad. We need to fix the NHS so that people can get the care they need fast and close to home. We would invest in delivering a first-rate health service – so you can see a GP or dentist when you need one.

The second issue that we will put at the heart of the election is the cost of living. When I knock on doors, so many Scots are worried that their household bills are soaring and their money just doesn’t go as far as it used to. 

One way to tackle the cost of living is to bring down stubbornly high energy bills. By rolling out a national insulation programme we can save people money and create jobs in the trades. With a real community benefit programme we can ensure that local people benefit from the renewables infrastructure being built across Scotland.

We also need to get Scotland moving again. Communities have been left scunnered by the state of roads and ferries. After two decades of SNP neglect, Scotland needs a party that is competent and focused on the challenges that people are facing every day.

Finally, we want to make sure Scotland is providing a world-class education system – giving our children the best possible start in life. What the Liberal Democrats are offering is someone who will be a champion for every town and village in Scotland. Someone who believes in opportunity for everyone, no matter where you live. Someone who believes Scotland deserves better. We want to put kindness back in our politics and restore hope in our communities.

No matter where you are in Scotland, you can elect a Liberal Democrat MSP on the peach-coloured regional ballot next year. And every vote for the Scottish Liberal Democrats on that ballot will deliver the change that Scotland needs.

Because Scotland deserves better. And with the Scottish Liberal Democrats, you can vote for it.

It’s time to roll up our sleeves and fix things. That’s why I’m optimistic about the future, not just for my party but for Scotland too.