Why I stood for election as First Minister - Alex Cole-Hamilton
For the parliamentary vote on the appointment of the next First Minister, I put my name forward.
I’m not feeling too disappointed by the outcome; I wasn’t surprised to see John Swinney back in the top job. So, why did I stand? It’s quite simple really. I believe Scotland deserves change with fairness at its heart.
While the outcome of the Scottish Parliament election has already been decided, it was not technically about choosing the First Minister. It was about choosing constituency and regional MSPs.
The separate vote for First Minister is then decided by those newly elected MSPs - a key part of our parliamentary democracy. And to be complacent about the outcome of the vote would be to disengage from the very system that we, as MSPs, were elected to engage with.
This vote also represented an opportunity: to make the case for a liberal vision of Scotland. An opportunity to highlight what Scottish Liberal Democrats are all about, and what we will continue to be about as a strengthened parliamentary group.
Across Scotland, people are backing our vision in swathes. This was our best Scottish Parliament election result for almost 20 years.
When it comes to constituencies, we came second. We won in places we have never won before, including Edinburgh Northern and Strathkelvin and Bearsden. The Highlands and Islands are now represented by talented, local Lib Dem champions. I was extremely humbled to secure more votes than any other constituency candidate, returning to Edinburgh North Western with 22,959 votes.
And why? Because people liked our ideas, the change we are envisaging, and they’re placing their trust in us.
Ours is a vision of a government that focuses every single day on fixing the NHS, on addressing the cost-of-living crisis, on getting Scottish education back to its best.
It’s about fixing the crisis in social care so that people can leave hospital when they are medically ready, so that new patients aren’t stepping into a nightmare when they arrive at A&Es.
It’s about recognising that if we reduce waits across our NHS, we can grow the economy too. It’s about investing in Scottish renewables and insulating cold homes to drive down the cost of living.
It’s about banning mobile phones in classrooms, hiring more pupil support assistants and making sure that we give every child the very best start in life.
Scottish Liberal Democrats want a government that will respect the needs of people in every corner of Scotland, fixing the ferries chaos, dualling the A9 and building lifeline infrastructure, including a new hospital for Shetland.
Much as they craved it, John Swinney and the SNP do not have the majority they admitted was necessary for obsessing over the constitution. The new First Minister would do well to listen to our vision, a vision that was backed by thousands of people across this country.
The lifetime of this parliament must be dedicated to the issues that matter: to health, to education, to the cost of living.
Make no mistake, the Scottish Government have the powers to move the dial on all of these issues, and Scottish Liberal Democrats will be fighting day after day to make sure that they do.