Alex Cole-Hamilton delivered a rousing and deeply personal speech at the Scottish Liberal Democrats’ spring conference in Inverness on Saturday.
With a clear focus on reclaiming ground from the SNP, he declared that the party is winning back the Highlands by championing local priorities like health and care.
Speaking from the capital of the Highlands, Cole-Hamilton evoked the legacies of party legends Russell Johnston, Ray Michie and Charles Kennedy, names he said still resonate with warmth on Highland doorsteps.
He reflected on the steep challenge the party once faced in Inverness, where many thought winning back Kennedy’s old seat was out of reach.
That changed, he said, after meeting Angus MacDonald, a then-prospective councillor full of ideas to revive communities, support jobs, and tackle the cost of living crisis.
Cole-Hamilton described repeatedly returning to the Highlands, watching Angus and his team carve a path to what became one of the party’s unlikeliest and most energising victories.
He said the result is proof that the Lib Dems are not only back in Inverness, but are gaining traction across the Highlands.
With eyes on the Scottish Parliament elections, he declared that belief has returned to Highland communities.
He insisted that voters now see the Liberal Democrats as the strongest force to challenge the SNP.
The party’s internal analysis, he revealed, shows that if last year’s Westminster vote were mapped onto Holyrood boundaries, the Lib Dems would have swept all three Highland seats.
Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch.
Caithness, Sutherland and Ross.
Inverness and Nairn.
Cole-Hamilton didn’t hold back, naming current and former SNP ministers Kate Forbes, Maree Todd and Fergus Ewing, and declaring with confidence that “we are coming.”
He described the possibility of taking all three seats as the political story of the night.
In one of his most heartfelt moments, Cole-Hamilton opened up about his family and upbringing, grounding his politics in a sense of duty and public service.
He spoke of his father, a chemistry professor who campaigned against chemical weapons, and his mother, who supported people with complex disabilities.
He praised his wife Gill, a teacher who leads additional support for learning in her school, and his children, who welcomed their Ukrainian housemate with compassion.
He recalled his frustrations during the pandemic, when he turned his energy into calling 2,500 shielding constituents and delivering 1,700 meals through a local charity.
The experience, he said, reaffirmed the values instilled in him around the dinner table – values he believes are shared by his party and the country.
He ended with an unexpected nod to Conservative minister Kemi Badenoch, who once remarked that Liberal Democrats are “good at fixing their church roof.”
Cole-Hamilton said he proudly accepts that label, because it speaks to thousands of quiet acts of service that define the Liberal Democrats.
A party rebuilding what’s broken.
Driven by community and conviction.
Ready to lead Scotland back to its best.
