The leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats has pledged his party will beat the Conservatives at next year’s Holyrood election.
Alex Cole-Hamilton encouraged disillusioned Tory voters to turn their backs on the “far-right language” of the party and join his ranks in May 2026.
He accused the Conservatives of “losing the public’s trust” and described the party’s Scottish leader, Russell Findlay, as “McFarage”.
Cole-Hamilton was speaking at the UK party’s autumn conference in Bournemouth.
He joked that the Scottish Conservatives would follow in the footsteps of the pandas at Edinburgh Zoo in “packing up and leaving” the country after the election.
Cole-Hamilton pointed to the example of Jamie Greene, the former Conservative MSP who defected to the Lib Dems in April, who cited his former party’s shift to the right to counteract the rise of Reform UK.
Cole-Hamilton said he knew of others in the Scottish Conservatives who were “considering their positions”.
And he urged those doubting their allegiance to the Tories to back his party next year.
He said: “If you took a chance on Ruth Davidson but aren’t willing to stay for Russell ‘McFarage’ Findlay, then come with us.
“If you took a chance on a broad-church vision of the Conservatives, but aren’t willing to stay for the economic illiteracy and the language of the far-right, then come with us.
“If you took a chance on Ruth Davidson, but aren’t willing to stay for the climate change denial or the nasty party they have returned to, then come with us.”
Cole-Hamilton added: “For the first time in the history of Holyrood, the Scottish Liberal Democrats will beat the Conservatives.”
No coalition with the SNP
He also hit out at the SNP – saying they did not deserve a “third decade in power”.
He used his speech to claim the former First Minister Humza Yousaf had asked him in for talks when the Greens quit his government.
Mr Cole-Hamilton said he was not going to “prop up a failing government”.
He pledged that none of the party’s MSPs would serve in an SNP-led administration, nor would he “countenance a coalition” after the election.
‘Getting stuff done’
He also pointed to “sneering” remarks made by the UK Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch earlier this year after she suggested the Lib Dems were the party who would “turn up to fix your church roof”.
Cole-Hamilton, who has been Scottish Liberal Democrat leader since 2021, said it was evidence of a disconnect between the Tories and voters.
He said UK party leader Ed Davey was already “knocking down the blue wall” south of the border and backed his party to do the same in Scotland.
“People used to compare the number of Conservatives in Scotland to the number of pandas at Edinburgh Zoo,” he said.
“Now all the pandas have packed up and left. The way things are going, they’ll soon be followed by Russell Findlay’s Conservative Party.
“Kemi Badenoch sneers at us for being the party that will be active in your community, for being the ones that turn up and fix your church roof. That shows exactly why the Conservatives have lost the public’s trust.”
Cole-Hamilton added: “Getting stuff done for our local communities is our bread and butter. It’s what we’re all about.”
What is the point of the Liberal Democrats?
Maybe that’s a rude question to ask in the genteel seaside resort of Bournemouth as the UK party gathers for its conference.
But it’s a pertinent thing to consider for any party.
Voters could probably quite easily identify “what is the point of…” the other main parties.
In this post-Brexit era, opponents would accuse the Lib Dems of limping along, held together by fond memories of Gladstone and Lloyd George.
They did have their moment in the sun as part of the UK coalition government for five years.
That exacted a high price but they are now perhaps recovering.
In his speech today, Alex Cole-Hamilton said “we need Liberals to win elections.”
He clearly believes there is a very strong point to the party – they are the liberal bulwarks against what he sees as a growing threat from the right wing.
He believes the right-wing appeal to a narrow constituency – this leader wants to appeal to what he thinks is a broad constituency and that’s why you get the call for “Ruth Davidson-type” Tories to join them.
In Bournemouth, they continue to bask in their success at last year’s general election and hope the Holyrood vote in eight months’ time will see them over-take the Conservatives.
They are really seeking to capitalise on the shifting sands of this new political era – hoping to re-capture some of their old glory.
