Lib Dems offer change with fairness at heart - Alex Cole-Hamilton

My party has got off to a flying start. Following our record-setting performance at the general election, where we took several key seats from the SNP and gained our highest number of MPs across the UK, we’re set to grow our group of MSPs at Holyrood.

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While other parties are trying to reopen the constitutional debates of the past or bringing old fashioned homophobia back, the Scottish Liberal Democrats are offering change with fairness at its heart.

To us, that means fixing the crisis in social care, boosting clean Scottish renewable energy and helping the small businesses that are the backbone of our economy, and much more.

Kemi Badenoch said, dismissively, that the Lib Dems are the people who will “fix your church roof,” and, for once, she’s right. That’s what we do. We work in our communities to get things done.

That's why, I believe that the Scottish Government should not be able to hide from the consequences of its mismanagement, just because there’s an election campaign underway.

Scotland’s ferries are facing yet another crisis, with boats breaking down and islands cut off entirely. This is a direct result of the SNP failing to put into place a long-term plan for the ferry system. Residents and businesses impacted by this latest instalment of the SNP’s ferry fiasco deserve better.

That’s why this week I am calling for the Scottish Parliament to be recalled to debate an appropriate response to this upheaval.

Ultimately, however, what it makes clear is that Scotland desperately needs a change of government.

In key constituencies like Edinburgh Northern, Strathkelvin & Bearsden, Inverness & Nairn and more, we can win and prevent John Swinney's nationalists from getting an utterly undeserved majority.

But it’s not just on the lilac constituency ballot paper that we’re seeing people turning to the Liberal Democrats, that all-important second peach regional ballot is going to be crucial.

There is no such thing as a wasted vote at this election. With the peach ballot, wherever you are, in every region of Scotland, if you want to see change with fairness at its heart you can vote for it.

Here in Edinburgh, that would mean sending candidates like mental health counsellor Jane Alliston Pickard or charity chief exec Charles Dundas to Parliament. Doesn't that sound better than another sleepy SNP backbencher?

As leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved in Holyrood. Just recently we secured an additional £300 million for hospices, colleges and small businesses through our budget deal that would not have been there if we had not got around the negotiating table.

We managed to deliver these results with the number of MSPs that we had. With an even larger group, we can go even further. As I’ve told my team, we’ve just left base camp, this is our Everest and I’m confident and optimistic about the climb ahead.

From the ferries to health, care and the economy, Scotland needs a new direction. We need change with fairness at its heart and Scottish Liberal Democrats will deliver it.