The Highlands declared the Scottish Liberal Democrats priority at Inverness conference as leader Alex Cole-Hamilton says ‘People in the Highlands know we are best placed to beat the SNP’
The Scottish Liberal Democrats have made the Highlands the party’s priority in clearest political and electoral terms at the spring conference in Inverness.
When MSP Jamie Greene joined the party after resigning from the Scottish Conservatives that charged the conference with significance.
He is the latest but most high profile defection from the Tories to the LibDems signifying a major realignment in Scottish politics.
Now, in a bold statement of intent, the party positioned two candidates – David Green and Andrew Baxter – to take on the SNP’s Kate Forbes and Maree Todd.
Scottish leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “That would be the story of the night – Scottish Liberal Democrats winning back the Highlands”.
Of the two, Caithness, Sutherland and Ross is the lower hanging electoral fruit with Ms Todd having alienated some over her nuclear stance and then there is maternity.
Despite being a minister representing that constituency, there has been zero improvement delivering maternity services and women still travel south to give birth.
But seasoned campaigner and another defector from the Conservatives, Andrew Baxter will be taking on perhaps the most capable politician in Scotland.
He believes he can win Ms Forbes’ seat because: “The political tide is moving… so incumbency and a personal vote doesn't actually count for as much as people think”.
“We can win those seats,” Mr Cole-Hamilton said, prompted by the massive success in the general election that saw Angus MacDonald “reclaim” Charles Kennedy’s seat.
He described that victory – the last to declare in the general election – as “poetry, absolute poetry”.
While in Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross Jamie Stone won with 15,800 votes – the biggest majority of his life – in a seat he only retained by 204 votes in 2019.
We asked him about the most precious quality heading into an election: momentum – or the lack of it, remember Rishi Sunak? – and whether the party can maintain it.
He said: “Look at my face! Yes, yes, we have momentum, there's no question and look – we are still just skipping around after the best result for Liberals in these islands, not just in Scotland, these islands in 100 years thanks to Ed’s leadership in the general election.
“We have in our sights more than trebling our MSP haul, it is a baseline for me, and that's doable but we're going to put in a lot of graft, a lot of shoe leather, a lot of door knocking, and but we're up for it.”
Mr Cole-Hamilton emphasised the connection with his party and the north of Scotland but argued that his optimism is not based on anything other than cold, hard electoral maths.
“One of the biggest upsets in the general election last year – Angus MacDonald in the last act of the election count reclaimed Charles Kennedy's old seat for the Liberal Democrats was poetry, absolute poetry.
“And what's more is when you map his results and Jamie Stone's result, in Caithness, Sutherland and Ross – remember Jamie had to win his seat all over again as the boundaries had made it notional SNP hold.
“So when you map the majorities across the three Scottish parliamentary constituencies of Kate Forbes, Maree Todd and Fergus Ewing – although obviously Fergus is not going to be running for the SNP this time – we win all three we win all three.
“This is a core stronghold that they need to win if they're going to carry Kate Forbes’ seat so we are putting all three of those parliamentarians, former ministers and current ministers on notice: the LibDems are coming”.
