Cole-Hamilton sets out key priorities for next year’s election

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton will today use his speech to the Liberal Democrat autumn conference in Bournemouth to set out his party’s key priorities for the forthcoming election: health, the cost of living, education and getting Scotland moving again.

Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

Conference when Jamie Greene made the brave decision to leave the Scottish Conservative Party and join us back in April, I couldn’t have been more pleased.

Not just because it swelled our ranks at Holyrood but because he has shown over the years that he is such a compassionate and profoundly talented member of parliament.

He has been met with warmth and generosity from Liberal Democrats the length and breadth of the UK, as we saw at the rally last night.

And we didn’t just welcome him in, because in Jamie we recognised a kindred spirit, someone who wants to get stuck in.

And my goodness, he has wasted no time in getting to work.

As our economy, finance and transport spokesperson, he is playing a central role in budget negotiations, launched a consultation as part of his mission to end the SNP’s ferries fiasco, and, just this week, he put into law new rights for victims of crime.

Leave something for the rest of us to do Jamie!

He’s swapped the endless infighting and bitterness of the Scottish Conservatives for a party that is united, positive, and brimming with hope.

Jamie speaks for a massive constituency of people who are dismayed by what the Conservative Party has become – a party that has learned precisely nothing from the disastrous leadership of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.

People used to compare the number of Conservatives in Scotland to the number of pandas at Edinburgh Zoo. 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.

I know others in the Conservatives are considering their positions. You can quite literally see them squirming in their seats at Holyrood.

People right up and down the country are turning their backs on the Scottish Conservatives too.

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.

Getting stuff done for our local communities is our bread and butter. It’s what we’re all about.

And it’s what people are crying out for.

So 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.

While Ed Davey and our campaign teams were knocking down the Blue Wall, we were winning more seats than the Scottish Conservatives north of the border.

And we can overtake them in May too.

Conference, for the first time in the history of Holyrood, the Scottish Liberal Democrats WILL beat the Conservatives.

Ours is a decent and caring country.

A country that thrives when we are internationalist in our outlook.

The UK can be a force for good when it stands tall on the world stage. And I don’t just mean the pomp and ceremony of a state visit.

I’m proud of the leadership Ed Davey has shown in calling for the immediate recognition of the state of Palestine.

I’m proud of the leadership Ed has shown in pushing the UK Government to do more to end the suffering in Gaza, for the hostages held by Hamas and the Palestinians starving and dying under constant IDF bombardment.

Because Conference, we must end the genocide.

Because our country is stronger when we stand up to bullies, be they Netanyahu, Donald Trump or Vladimir Putin.

Our country is stronger when we invest in our defence, and that of Ukraine.

And our country is stronger when we work with our allies. That doesn’t mean doing deals with the Taliban like Nigel Farage wants. It means putting Britain back at the heart of Europe.

That speaks to our values as liberals.

We need more of that. In every country. At every level of government. We need liberals.

We need liberals to win elections.

Conference, Wendy Chamberlain joined our party at its lowest point. It must have been the police officer’s instinct in her – sprinting towards trouble.

It was Wendy who stepped forward after we missed out on gaining North East Fife from the SNP by an agonising 2 votes.

From 2 votes behind, Wendy’s majority over the SNP now stands at a whopping 13,500.

She’s proven she can beat them – twice now.

She’s at the heart of Ed’s record-breaking team.

Public service is in her DNA and her constituents trust her to get the job done.

And so do I. Which is why I can announce today that Wendy Chamberlain is going to chair our Scottish Parliamentary election campaign.

Because Wendy doesn’t just know how to beat the SNP, she knows how to give them the electoral thumping that they deserve.

From Stranraer to Shetland, Skye to St Andrews, Scotland has so much going for it.

But everywhere I go, people say that right now it feels like our country simply isn’t working.

The long waits to see your GP. Everything is so much more expensive. Scottish education just isn’t what it used to be. And don’t get me started on the ferries fiasco.

People are frustrated, and they’re right to be.

Scotland deserves better than this. But it needs to be change with fairness at its heart.

This is my message to voters.

You have two votes at the coming Scottish Parliament elections.

In many constituencies, we are on the verge of winning against the SNP.

But wherever you are, every vote for the Scottish Liberal Democrats on the second peach ballot will deliver change with fairness at its heart.

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

There will be young Scots casting their ballots at the coming election who weren’t even born when the SNP first came to power.

All they’ve ever known is Salmond, Sturgeon, Yousaf and Swinney.

They’ve grown up in cold homes, travelled deadly roads like the A9, and faced violence in their schools.

Does the SNP really merit a third decade in power?

Conference, they do not. Scotland deserves better.

The young people I helped as a youthworker deserve better.

Islanders stuck without ferries deserve better.

Patients waiting an age for care deserve better.

For all the questions facing Scotland right now, the answer to none of them is a fifth term in office for the SNP.

In the last days of his tenure as First Minister, Humza Yousaf jettisoned the Green Party from coalition government. His administration was collapsing around him.

He invited me for talks to see if I could offer him a way to stay in power. I couldn’t, in all conscience, even take that meeting.

You see Conference, I’m not going to prop up a failing government. I will not deny our communities the change they’re crying out for.

As you saw from our participation in the budget last year, the Scottish Liberal Democrats will always act like grown-ups.

We’ll work in our communities and across Parliament to get things done for the people of Scotland.

The more MSPs we have, the more we can get done.

But Conference, let me be abundantly clear. Not a single one of our MSPs will serve in an SNP-led administration. I will not countenance a coalition with the nationalists. And I will not vote to put them in power.

Because Scotland deserves better.

The opportunity for change in Scotland is just around the corner.

Alongside our colleagues in Wales, we face the single biggest test for Liberal Democrats this side of the next General Election.

And friends, we are here for it.

We are motoring day and night to play our part in the great Liberal Democrat revival.

Candidates selected earlier than ever before.

More money raised at this stage than ever before.

Want to be part of a winning campaign?

Come help us.

Remember, loads of us came south to play our part in those stunning by-elections in England.

Now it’s time to come and help us.

In seats like Argyll and Bute, Strathkelvin and Bearsden, North Edinburgh, right across the Highlands, every leaflet delivered, every call made, every conversation had on a doorstep brings us closer to victory.

So get yourselves up to Scotland. Come join us in delivering the breakthrough victories our country is crying out for.

Every week, I get around the country, finding out how people are feeling, and what needs fixing.

They’re tired. They feel let down by the other parties.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats believe Scotland deserves better than this. We believe in fairness for everyone, no matter who you are or where you come from.

That’s why we have a realistic plan to get things done:

Delivering first-rate health care – so you can see your GP, dentist or mental health professional when you need them.

Helping you with the cost of living – insulating cold homes and using Scottish renewable energy to drive down household bills.

Getting Scotland moving again - by fixing our roads, our ferries and our public transport.

Scottish education back to its best – expanding pupil support in every school and giving every child the best start in life.

Liberal Democrats are winning again, with more councillors, a record number of MPs and more to come.

The coming election is an opportunity for change with fairness at its heart.

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

Thank you.