Alex Cole-Hamilton has announced he will stand as a candidate for First Minister ahead of the upcoming vote in the Scottish Parliament.
The announcement follows what the Scottish Liberal Democrats described as their strongest Holyrood election result in almost 20 years.
The party almost tripled its number of MSPs and finished second in the number of constituency seats won.
Cole-Hamilton also secured the highest personal constituency vote of the election after winning Edinburgh North Western with 22,959 votes.
The Liberal Democrats also recorded gains in constituencies including Strathkelvin and Bearsden and Edinburgh Northern, both of which the party had never previously held.
The party also secured major gains across the Highlands.
Andrew Baxter overturned an SNP majority of more than 15,000 votes to win Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch while David Green returned Caithness, Sutherland and Ross to Liberal Democrat control for the first time in 15 years.
Cole-Hamilton said:
“Scotland deserves change with fairness at its heart, and that is why I will be offering my candidacy for the office of First Minister.
“This vote is a key part of our parliamentary democracy, and it would be an insult to that democracy if it were to be approached as some kind of done deal.
“Rather, I see this vote as an opportunity to make the case for a liberal vision of Scotland.
“I do so following a phenomenal Scottish Parliament election result for our party, in which so many people put their trust in us.
“Scottish Liberal Democrats want a government that is focused every single day on fixing the NHS, on addressing the cost-of-living crisis, on getting Scottish education back to its best.
“We want a government that respects the needs of people in every corner of this country, that will end the ferries chaos, upgrade dangerous roads and get Scotland moving again.
“I understand that the outcome of this election has been decided, but no party has won a majority.
“If our democracy is about anything, it is about the exchange of ideas for what our country can become.
“By standing for First Minister, I want to show how Scottish Liberal Democrats envisage that change.”
