Alex Cole-Hamilton, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader told his party’s spring conference, that he believes they will beat the SNP “right across Scotland” in the Scottish Parliamentary election.
He appeared on stage at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh in the shadow of Arthur’s Seat to rally his party and name-check constituencies which he believes the Lib Dems can secure.
He picked out Ben Langmead in Bearsden South and Connie Ramsay in Tain as two of the three victories the party has enjoyed in council by-elections in areas which the SNP previously held.
He explained that he has his mind set on an outright victory in May, addressing a room filled with LibDem members as he said: “We beat the SNP in Bearsden, we beat them in Tain, and we beat the SNP in Fort William, and let’s be absolutely clear.
“In May, we will beat them right across Scotland. We will repaint the electoral map, turning huge swathes of Scotland from the acid yellow of the SNP to the solid gold of the Liberal Democrats.
“Ben, Matthew and Connie are just the vanguard. Conference, you’re the cavalry and when it comes to parliamentary constituencies, with your help, we can be the big winners.
“Let me spell that out – we can gain more constituencies than any other party. Constituencies where it’s neck and neck between us and the SNP.”
The Lib Dem leader then outlined Edinburgh Northern, Inverness and Nairn, Skye Lochaber and Badenoch, Caithness, Sutherland and Ross and Strathkelvin and Bearsden as the constituencies that can join his party’s ranks.
With only five MSPs at present, Cole-Hamilton admitted: “Ten constituencies would be a monumental leap forward.
“But my goodness, the opportunity to make big gains on the regional list is absolutely massive. They could turn a great night for our party into an unbelievable night.”
He then turned his sights on Reform, adding: “Some of [the people] I speak to are considering voting for Reform.
“Not because they are particularly fond of Nigel Farage, but often it’s simply to stick two fingers up to the Conservative, Labour and SNP politicians who have let them down.
“There is a lot at stake at this election. Reform thrive when people feel tired and frustrated and cynical about politics.
“I want to show them that there is another way of doing things, because I suspect the change those people are looking for doesn’t come in the form of cosying up to Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.”
Cole-Hamilton referred to Reform leader in Scotland, Malcolm Offord, criticising the former Tory for “donating money to Boris Johnson until he secured a seat in the House of Lords”.
He added: “[Offord] wants tax cuts for millionaires like him funded by getting rid of those responsible for checking our hospitals are clean.
“Let me be absolutely clear. His lordship has no clothes. The change that Reform UK represent is bleak and miserable and self-serving. We are the antidote to Reform.”
He admitted that the party had “squeezed every penny we could” out of The Scottish Government in its recent budget.
The agreement, reached last week, will see £300m used to fund the Lib Dems’ priority issues such as a 10% increase in the college budget, as well as more money to support pubs, restaurants, hotels, music venues and night clubs.
Hospices, autism and ADHD assessments and young entrepreneurs were also named by Cole-Hamilton as some of the beneficiaries of the budget.
In a final swipe at the SNP and the “mess” the current governing party has made of the education system, an unperturbed Cole-Hamilton said: “Under the SNP, Scottish education is just average and our maths scores in the international rankings are the lowest they have ever been.
“It’s the same for reading and science. The worst ever. Remember what John Swinney and the SNP said they’d do?
“A free laptop for every pupil, free school lunches up to primary seven, teachers spending less hours in front of class and more time preparing, smaller class sizes, closing the poverty-related attainment gap and 3,500 more teachers.
“Conference, none of this has been delivered – none of it. And the impact? After 19 years of the SNP, Scottish education just isn’t what it used to be.
“We will invest in pupil support assistants and specialist support such as speech and language therapists.
“We will legislate to make classrooms mobile phone-free, so children can learn and teachers can teach. We need that to make the cultural change that this requires. It’s just not fair to leave this up to headteachers and ministerial guidance.
“And today, I can announce that we will open up a new route for qualified primary school teachers stuck in precarious work to quickly gain the right to teach in secondary schools.
“If you need to be able to teach an additional subject then we’ll help you too. It will improve their job prospects and ensure pupils have the teachers and subject choice they deserve.
“It is part of our plan to fix the mess that the SNP have made of teacher recruitment and retention.”
Closing his speech, Mr Cole Hamilton said: “The next ten weeks could be the most important in our party’s history and anyone who tells you they know what’s going to happen in May is lying to you.
“Make no mistake, the coming election is wide open. We stand on the threshold of a huge revival. Our ten target constituencies are just the start.
“We’ve never been better prepared, we’ve never been better funded, our activists are ready, our candidates are ready.
“Go forth from this hall with hope and confidence and belief in your hearts. This is our time, go out there and seize it.”
