by BILL HEANEY
In his speech at the Liberal Democrat Party conference in Brighton today (Tuesday 22nd September), Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP will say that his party now has “the opportunity to shape the course of Scottish politics and influence government.”
What he won’t say is that his party is gearing up for an alliance with Scottish Labour, which they had when Jack McConnell and Jim Wallace led the two parties.
This now looks more than likely since at the Holyrood election in May 2026, Scottish Liberal Democrats secured their best result in twenty years.
In his speech, Alex, right, will highlight that there are now just seven seats between his party and those in second place.
Since Parliament returned following the election, Scottish Liberal Democrats have successfully passed amendments in a number of parliamentary votes, including those on improving community benefit and extending compensation for ferry disruption to coastal towns.
Alex will say that the SNP will need to fight to win his party over on every vote, and that Scottish Liberal Democrats are “prepared to roll up our sleeves and get things done.”
Alex will say: “This May, no party won a majority in the Scottish Parliament.
“And as the architects of Holyrood envisaged, more than 25 years ago, political parties need to find common ground where it exists.
“Budget by budget, bill by bill, case by case, we will use our leverage as MSPs to get things done.
“This is how we fight for change with fairness at its heart.
“Yes, it might have been our campaign slogan, but it has a real-world meaning.
“It means that we have the opportunity to shape the course of Scottish politics and influence government.
“And in this much flatter Scottish Parliament, there are just seven seats between the parties and us in second place.
“We are now the most influential group in that Parliament because the SNP know they will have to fight to win us over on every vote.
“Our price will be steep.
“We will demand an agenda that is: open, compassionate, internationalist, community-focused and environmentally sustainable.
“And we’re not dithering about.
“We’ve probably won more votes in Holyrood in the past three months than we did in the last three years.
“To improve community benefit for renewable energy.
“To give the third sector the licence to criticise ministers.
“To ensure public funding doesn’t benefit companies connected to human rights abuses.
“To extend compensation for the SNP’s ferries fiasco to coastal towns.
“We pushed the government to sort out the planning system when it comes to hyperscale data centres.
“And how do we do all of this? We dial down political rhetoric and come to the negotiating table with pragmatic solutions.
“We work with other parties when it matters, but we don’t shy away from holding their feet to the fire either.
“Because one lesson we have all learned in recent years is that the public wants grown-up politics.
“There are two types of political opposition: those who fire out angry press releases and achieve nothing in return.
“And those prepared to roll up their sleeves and get things done. That is us.
“From the hundreds of millions of pounds we extracted in last year’s budget, to getting key votes through our parliament.
“Whilst doing it in the only way I know possible: with fairness at its heart.”