Scottish Liberal Democrats are “surging forward”

After a second by election win in Edinburgh in two years, and following what they regard as a successful result in the General Election, the Scottish Liberal Democrats are holding their conference in Perth this weekend.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole Hamilton told us that the newest Edinburgh councillor, Louise Spence, will announce him on to the conference stage this morning. Her election as the 63rd councillor in Edinburgh has changed the arithmetic at the City Chambers, although whether the Liberal Democrats could form a coalition with the SNP to run the council is debatable. When elected in 2022 the SNP had the largest group (and still do) but failed to cut a deal with any other group to form an administration.

He is expected to say in his conference speech: “The election will be here before we know it.

“The country is taking us seriously again.

“On top of our huge leap forward to 72 MPs, every single poll has us surging forward.

“Make no mistake, we are on the up and Scotland needs strong liberal voices more than ever.

“I look around this room and I see the faces of people who got into politics to help their communities and those around them.

“For so many life is getting harder. It feels like nothing works any more. And people have had enough.

“The SNP have made brutal cuts to vital budgets because they have mismanaged our nation’s finances over the entirety of their time in government.

“This year alone they have cut the housing budget in the middle of a housing emergency.

“Cut the mental health budget during a mental health crisis.

“And they have cut the drug and alcohol budget while Scotland’s drug mortality remains among the worst in the world.

“These decisions are harming the people of Scotland and the SNP have only themselves to blame.

“Conference, the coming Scottish Budget could make a difference to all of this.

“In a Parliament of minorities, we will always act like grown-ups and seek consensus where we can. It’s why each year we engage in meaningful talks with the Government to try to find common ground and improve the lot of our communities in the pages of the budget.

“I want to see a spending plan that actually works for the people we serve. But we are a long way from that and they will have to move mountains to persuade us.

“Because we know how badly broken things are.

“We know the scale of the reform that’s needed.

“And in our heart of hearts, we know the only thing that will truly bring about the change that Scotland needs is a change of government.”