Annihilation and Wild Garlic - Alex Cole-Hamilton hits the blogosphere

Yesterday afternoon saw the Edinburgh Central thank you party. The campaigners and activists gathered to eat some delicious food (that banana cake, that table, that chocolate cheesecake thingy, yum) and do all the thanking and being thanked that's associated with these events.

Clearly, and unfortunately, we didn't manage to send Alex to Holyrood this time, but there was still some celebrating to be done. I was only a tiny part of the awesome campaign machine, but it was such a good experience and I've made friends I'll have for life. We've put a lot into this campaign, but we also got something back. Being part of something so positive, with so much camaraderie and teamwork is really good for the soul - and that team is determined to fight on together.

I can't imagine for a second Alex will stop campaigning - it's just not in his DNA, but he at least has some spare time now to spend with his lovely and rapidly expanding family whose newest member is expected this Summer.

It's good to see that he's hit the blogosphere again. He was one of the party's earliest bloggers, but had to give up in the run up to the 2007 election. It is true that Those Who Think They Should Be Obeyed in the Party asked him to stop, which I thought was wrong. However, even if they hadn't, it's hard to see how someone of even Alex's energy could manage to keep up blogging and campaigning at that intensity.

Anyway, get Liberal Landslide into your bookmarks and blogrolls because he has a lovely way of writing - very refreshing and original.

If our hopefully soon to be confirmed new leader Willie Rennie has any sense, and I think it might just be possible that he does, he'll get Alex into some sort of role which involves him motivating party members and communicating Liberal values to the Scottish public. He is one of party's brightest lights and it's important that we get him out there as much as possible. He may not have made it to Holyrood this time, but he's a vital part of the Scottish Liberal Democrat future.

A candidate and a video camera - what can possibly go wrong?

Candidates often use technology to enhance their campaigns. After all, it's so easy. Anyone, for example, can make a video these days. You just get yourself a camera, stand in front of it, and the words just flow, as Alex Cole-Hamilton, our man in Edinburgh Central shows........



.......or something like that.

My tip for two new MSPs who would be good for Scotland #sp11 #yes2av

I decided that I wasn't going to take a formal role in any campaign, because I just am not physically well enough at the moment to sustain that.  I have dabbled my toe, and in some cases had a proper paddle in several campaigns across the country. I've just about got to the end of the campaign in one piece, although I suspect that I will just go to sleep at 10pm tonight and forget the results until the morning.

It's been the toughest campaign I've ever been involved in for all sorts of reasons. The good thing though is that I've had the joy of working with some absolutely fantastic people. I want to give a shout out to the staff at party HQ. Every one of them has been utterly awesome in challenging circumstances. They've done a great job and I want to buy them all lots of beer. I wish I could afford to buy Jenny Stanning the iPad she craves. Maybe if I win the lottery......... And spare a thought for Roger Reeves, Andrew's partner. It's his birthday today, but I suspect he'll be blowing out his candles alone.

I am going to single two people out that I'm keeping everything crossed for - I so want to see them in Holyrood for the first time because they would be so good for Scotland.

The first is Alex Cole-Hamilton  in Edinburgh Central and the Lothians list. If you live in either of these places, please vote for him. You will not get a better champion for children and young people in the next Parliament. It's annoyed me that this campaign has seen little meaningful mention of kids and their needs. His years' experience working for children's charities gives him exactly the sort of insight and perspective we need in there.

I have mixed emotions this morning because it is quite a compliment from Labour, a testament to his campaign which has clearly got them rattled, that they put out a leaflet personally attacking him. I'm just furious to see my friend treated in this way, though.  I suspect the best way to deal with that fury is to get into Edinburgh and get the vote out for him.

The second is that man Rennie, who's the top Lib Dem candidate on the Mid Scotland and Fife list.  When I walked up Dunfermline High Street with him, we invariably took ages to get from one end to the other. He was so well recognised and had helped so many people that he was always stopped to chat. What was particularly remarkable was that local young people knew who he was and felt comfortable about going and speaking to him. I want him in there because of his energy, his wisdom and his compassion. He is committed to evidence based policies on drug and alcohol abuse, he knows and understands so much about what businesses need the government to do to help them create more jobs. He stood up for businesses all across West Fife and will do the same across the region if elected. I am never this nice about him to his face, so please don't tell him, by the way. It would ruin my credibility with him.  If you live in mid Scotland and Fife, please vote for him.

Oh, and don't forget to vote Yes to AV too - simply because anything which gives more power to the voter has to be a good thing. It's not a coincidence that those who have wielded the most political power in this country for centuries don't want the change.

Alex Cole-Hamilton shines at Edinburgh student hustings #sp11

One thing that cheered me up this morning was reading the reports about the Edinburgh University Students' Association hustings which took place last night. The Journal has a live blog of the proceedings and you can see how people who were there felt by looking at the #eusahustings page on Twitter.


It appears that Edinburgh Central Liberal Democrat candidate Alex Cole-Hamilton really impressed those who were watching.Here's a selection of the comments about him:


From someone who isn't keen on the Liberal Democrats:

If it wouldn't make me sick in my mouth to think about it, I'd actually campaign for @Alex4Central after these hustings.


From the same person:


Another name drop for #WriteToMike from @Alex4Central. An example that principled Lib Dem politicians still exist.  


Pleased that @Alex4Central is suggesting that Scottish Labour's appalling 'Carry a Knife Go to Jail' policy is just that


On Coalition red line issues:


Alex: good Q. 3 absolutes: CND, Free NHS, no (mandatory) knife carrying jail terms 


I think i'm going to call the #eusahustings as a tie between ramsay and cole hamilton. - Alex is the only one of those standing in the constituency of Edinburgh Central, though.


Well, @Alex4Central won that in my opinion


@Alex4Central blew the opposition out the water at hustings tonight


Alex has been a friend of mine for a long time, so I'm hardly unbiased, but I've become more and more impressed with him as a leader over the years and I think Holyrood needs someone who will be a passionate supporter of young people. He's on the same page as I am on things like Trident - he's totally opposed to nuclear weapons - as a former student leader, he has a long track record of opposition to fees and understands how hard many students find meeting their day to day living costs. He understands about the crisis in FE colleges too as he showed recently on Brian Taylor's Big Debate. 


Have a look at this really thoughtful video he's done about knife crime. I feel that he really gets what's important here - finding a way to make our communities and our young people safer.





Politics aside, one of the things I care most about is children, their welfare, factoring in their needs at every level of policy. I want to see people in Holyrood who share that passion, who get it instinctively without it having to be pointed out. Alex is top of my list of people I want to see in there.

Alex Cole-Hamilton wows Brian Taylor's Big Debate

Liberal Democrat candidate for the Lothians list and Edinburgh Central Alex Cole-Hamilton took part in Brian Taylor's Big Debate on Radio Scotland this lunchtime, along with Angela Constance from the SNP, Lawrence Fitzpatrick from Labour and Edinburgh Central Tory candidate Iain McGill.  It was held in West Lothian College in Livingston so I went down to be part of the audience.

Ok, I know I'm biased, but Alex put in an awesome performance. He was confident and assured and had a good, people centred answer for every single question he was asked.  There was much discussion about cuts in the FE sector and young people. West Lothian College has had its budget cut by 10%. Alex talked about there being a crisis in FE and how the Liberal Democrats would throw it a £21 million lifeline. For someone who is a education spokesperson on the Council, Lawrence Fitzpatrick was shockingly bad, spouting rhetoric about Labour protecting working class kids backed up with absolutely no substance to back it up.

There was only one person who had any time at all for the Tory plans to allow people to leave school at 14, many making the point that there aren't enough college places and apprenticeships for 16 year olds, yet alone 14 year olds.  I loved it when Alex took Angela to task on Scottish Government interference and expectations on teachers - suggesting that teachers might have a bit more time to get on with making lessons more engaging if they didn't have to spend time filling in forms for ministers in Holyrood, or reading through instruction manuals the size of telephone directories.

The room was so stacked with SNP members, that even Lawrence Fitzpatrick decided to out himself as being in favour of a referendum on independence. Seems to be a bit of a habit from Labour. First it was the Council Tax Freeze which they'd opposed for 4 years. Then it was free prescriptions which they'd also opposed. I managed to make a point about this - seriously, nobody, absolutely nobody that I come across outside politics, in my normal everyday life, nobody at the school gate or the zumba class talks about this. They talk about being worried about losing their jobs, or about the amount it costs to fill the car or get their weekly shop, or the failure of the Council to clear the roads in Winter, but I don't sense a burning desire for a referendum on independence. Angela Constance jokingly replied to me that I need to get different friends.

Labour's natural desire to suck everything into the centre came to the fore when discussing the idea of a National Care Service. There was very little support for it in the room - certainly in West Lothian, you wouldn't really want to fix something that's not broken, although I'm not convinced the set up is as unique as they think, because it sounds similar to what they do in Edinburgh, joint working between the NHS and Social Services to make sure people get decent care and aren't kept in hospital longer than necessary.  I don't think Labour really think of people as individuals, just as some amorphous blob with the same needs when in fact people have all sorts of unique circumstances and need their care to be tailored to them, not delivered according to the diktats of some bureaucrat in St Andrew's House.

The last question was about free prescriptions. I totally get the logic behind it, but I feel a bit guilty about it because I can afford to pay £3 or £5 for the drugs I need and I feel that giving me free drugs is costing money that could be better used elsewhere - and now the charge has gone, I don't even have the option of paying as I did sometimes - I have a condition which exempts me from all charges. Anyway, I got the chance to make another point - taking the Tories to task for the fact that they would charge everyone on £16000 plus for prescriptions at the same time as giving a £200 tax cut to rich pensioners - a point which was then made much better than I did by Alex.

You can listen to the the whole thing here. 

Just as an aside, I also managed to get a photo of Angela, wearing her ubiquitous orange scarf

I kid you not - she is wearing that scarf as part of the same outfit in every single photo in her recent leaflet - at the local community centre, at the hospital, at the school, at the local park, and so on. Now, she has visited these places many, many times. You could never accuse Angela of not being interested and involved in the local community - she has supported local schools and organisations all through the 11 years I've known her and before that. She'd obviously just been round and had all the campaign photos taken in one day, so I teased her about it. As she said herself, it's not like she doesn't have enough clothes. On the other hand, I teased Jo Swinson way back in 2005 for putting out leaflets which showed her over a period of about 18 months with about 6 different hairstyles, so maybe I just like being contrary.

I was really proud of Alex today - his persuasive and down to earth manner, and his grasp of the issues would make him a formidable force in Parliament so I really hope he gets there.

The secret behind Alex Cole-Hamilton's appearance on the BBC News Channel

After the Scotland on Sunday economy debate yesterday, I called in at the nerve centre of the Liberal Democrat campaign on my way home.

I arrived just in time to see our candidate for Edinburgh Central Alex Cole-Hamilton appear on the BBC News Channel. I think the people in the studio wanted him to talk about something else, but he told them about his own vibrant campaign in Edinburgh Central and about the Liberal Democrat achievements in the UK Coalition. I know that the ending of child detention for immigration purposes is particularly close to his heart as he works for a children's charity and I was really chuffed to see it was the first thing he mentioned.

He also talked about how the coalition were taking 90,000 Scots out of income tax from April, and giving a tax cut to many other low and middle income households and talked about how upbeat the party was when we met at Conference in Perth three weeks ago.

I though he did a great job - but there was a little secret about his appearance. He had popped into party HQ earlier and been asked to go on the tv. Only problem was he was casually dressed. No problem.He borrowed a shirt and tie from the party's chief exec and a jacket from another member of staff.

I've known Alex for a long time and I've seen how he's gone from his first job out of university to relishing in parenthood to his young son. He would bring a real understanding of the issues affecting children and young people to the Parliament - something we really, really need. As a former student sabbatical, he is passionate about the issues affecting students and barriers in education.

He's put together a young, cool and awesome campaign team. I've been in there the last two Sundays (although only briefly yesterday) and the atmosphere is fantastic. There are lots of people working very hard to help Alex win in five weeks' time, building on the work he's done since July. He's knocked on well over 11,000 doors since then and has had a terrific reception. He'd be a fabulous MSP and someone I really want to see in the next Parliament.

No, Scottish Liberal Democrats aren't for handing out heroin like sweeties - the truth behind the lurid headlines

RTFQ

That was my mantra before sitting an exam. Read the Flippin' Question*. Making sure you understand what you're being asked is fundamental. Otherwise, you can go off on one, write pages and then realise that you are not really giving the examiner what they want. Take it from one who knows.

RTFQ has a twin, RTFM, applicable to journalists in particular. It stands for Read the Flippin' Motion* before you write a headline which completely misrepresents what the Scottish Liberal Democrat (or any other but I only really care about ours) Conference has voted for.

"Lib Dems back move to give addicts NHS heroin" screamed the Sunday Herald. The Express was even worse. "Lib Dems want heroin given out free on the NHS" Really? To everybody? In schools? At sweetie counters? Whether they like it or not? Whatever, you might be forgiven for thinking, if you'd read those headlines, that you could just go along to your local pharmacy and pick up some controlled drugs along with your Rennies and your support stockings.

That's not the case, though. Let me tell you exactly what the motion passed on Saturday says:

"Conference further calls for increased investment in schemes like the Persistent Offenders Project and for specialised diamorphine maintenance clinics to be made available as an extra option facilitating intervention in the lives of the most vulnerable and most disruptive heroin users."

So, not really very many people at all, and only as an extra tool as a last resort.

This part was an amendment Glasgow South local party had tabled to a motion from the awesome Liberal Youth Scotland, who were calling for greater use of community service and drug treatment orders as opposed to fines for drug possession. This is the whole of their motion:

Conference notes that in 2008-09, across Scotland, 2296 people received a fine for
possession of drugs, compared to 78 who received a Community Service Order
(CSO) and 62 who received a Drug Treatment and Testing Order (DTTO).

Conference also notes that the Central, Fife, Northern and Grampian police force
areas only handed down one DTTO each in this year for drug possession

Conference believes that CSOs and DTTOs are far more effective in dealing with the
root causes of drug offences.

Conference also believes that fines carry a significant risk that the offender may turn
to further crime in order to pay the fine.

Conference therefore calls on the Scottish Government to ask the new Scottish
Sentencing Council to review sentencing in drug possession cases, with a view to
ensuring the maximum effective use of DTTOs and CSOs.

Conference also calls on any such review to take account of the risk of further crime
from handing out fines for drug possession.

Callum Leslie proposed the motion on behalf of Liberal Youth Scotland and explained why he thought it and the amendment were so important in tackling crime. I'm going to reproduce his speech in full (with his permission) so that you can see the whole of his argument.

Conference, Scotland has a drug problem. There's no point beating about the bush. We have a problem, and what we are doing at the moment isn't working. A quarter of adults admit taking one or more illicit drug in their lifetime, and the number of people taking drugs is not falling, despite our best efforts.
 We need to look again at the way we do things. We need to think different. It's no longer good enough to make strong statements, and be seen as being “tough on crime”, we need to put in place the practical solutions that can start to really address this problem. The case for community service almost does not need to be made. It is a long held Liberal Democrat belief that meaningful community payback is in many cases the most effective treatment. Why is it then that just 78 people received a Community Service Order for drug possession in 2008/09?
 Conference it seems utterly outrageous to me that 2296 fines were handed down for drug possession in the period. The Scottish Government's own report into evidence based drug sentencing recommended that we needed to “Improve our understanding of the benefits and costs of long-term prescribing and how to generate recovery communities within maintenance treatment services,” and this huge amount of fines does nothing to achieve this aim.
 The impact of a fine is, in general, minimal, and will not have any effect on re-offending. That is in fact almost a best case scenario. At worst, these fines will lead to further acquisitive crime from the offender to pay them, and potentially lead minor offenders only picked up for drug possession at first to a life of much more serious crime. Now, I know what some might say – fines don't cost anything, CSOs and DTTOs cost too much. I would say this, fines may not cost anything for the Government to collect on the face of it, but by not addressing the real problem and using those methods which reform and rehabilitate the offender, we are leaving ourselves open to having to spend much more money later on sending these people to prison – these methods do save money in the long run. It could be said that DTTOs are too expensive and their effectiveness has been called into question, however I believe that the amendment to this motion will strengthen DTTOs and give  sheriffs greater flexibility to hand down treatment programmes which will be most likely to reduce drug use and offending.
 Having said all of this, while I may firmly believe that alternatives to fines and prison are the most effective to deal with offenders, that is not what the motion is calling for. All the motion calls for is for the new sentencing board to look at these figures, and investigate whether or not we have the balance right.
 Conference this is not a debate about legalisation, or decriminalisation. I'm not opening that can or worms – we've all been there before and is a debate for another day. Liberal Youth Scotland simply have a deep concern over the way in which we are dealing with this relatively low level of drug crime, and are not addressing the real problems behind them. I would also like to speak briefly to the amendment, which Liberal Youth Scotland is happy to support. The amendment in the name of Glasgow South local party may sound controversial, but actually I believe it is anything but – it would reduce drug use in those with the most serious addictions, save the public purse money through alternative treatments instead of prison, and will reduce acquisitive crime associated with chaotic drug use. Diamorphine maintenance treatment would of course have to be tightly controlled, and would not be used lightly. This treatment would only be used for those addicts who have not responded to other treatments such as methadone treatment – many of those who are prescribed methadone treatment do not respond to it, and the methadone does not stop them going out and acquiring street heroin – and committing further acquisitive crime to do it. Ewan will speak to this in a moment but diamorphine treatment has by far the strongest evidence base, and can no longer be dismissed out of hand.Conference, we have a big opportunity here. Evidence-based drug policy is the way forward in how we deal with Scotland's relationship with drugs, and the new Scottish sentencing board must look at all of the available options, not just those available to sheriffs at the moment. I am confident that not only will increased use of alternative punishments, and particularly diamorphine treatment, reduce drug use in Scotland, it will save money, save us from the acquisitive crime associated with drug use, and save lives. Conference, I urge you to support the motion and the amendment. Thank you.

I am really pleased that Alex Cole-Hamilton, despite being the candidate for the target seat of Edinburgh Central, spoke out on a controversial subject. He said:

 “There is a great cost to society, and the public purse, if offenders are just abandoned to a cycle of crime and prison.

“DTTOs and CSOs are measures that would save public money by keeping drug abusers out of jail.

“Drug offenders should not be treated the same as murderers. We should work to treat the problem of drug abuse, not lock addicts away and condemn them to a life of crime.

“This is a problem that affects drug users, families and the wider community. It needs a holistic solution.” 

Most moving of all was the contribution made by 14 year old Alexandra White, who told very movingly and with understanding and clarity of how she'd lost a friend whose mother was a drug user and was in and out of prison. She did it all without notes, so I can't copy it. However, if you look here, at around 15 minutes in, you can see her and I'm sure you'll agree that she deserved the prize she received for best speech of the conference.

I hope I've managed to show you that the truth behind the lurid headlines is something much more sensible and evidence based.


* some words may have been changed to make this suitable for a family audience, and to spare me having to pay fines for swearing to my daughter

Liberal Democrats smash expectations in Oldham East and Saddleworth

If you'd listened to the media in recent weeks, you'd have thought that the Liberal Democrats were in for a real routing in Oldham, barely reaching double figures. Conventional wisdom said that meltdown was inevitable, and our defeat would be followed by a challenge to Nick Clegg and ultimately the coalition would fall.

Well, what a load of nonsense those predictions turned out to be. The result last night had us with a slightly higher proportion of the vote than we had in May, but unfortunately that wasn't enough to see Elwyn Watkins elected MP.

The result in full was:

• Labour: 14,718 (42.1%)
• Lib Dems: 11,160 (31.9%)
• Conservatives: 4,481 (12.8%)
• UKIP: 2,029 (5.8%)
• BNP: 1,560 (4.5%)
• Green Party: 530 (1.5%)
• Monster Raving Loony Party: 145 (0.4%)
• English Democrats: 144 (0.4%)
• Pirate Party: 96 (0.2%)
• Bus Pass Elvis Party: 67 (0.1%)

Labour haven't got much to shout about - they held their own seat at a time when they're opposing a Government which is having to do some fairly harsh things, after all the tuition fees stuff and the VAT increase. Even then, their new MP was elected on less than half the vote, and less than the combined total of the Coalition parties. They will be very worried indeed at the extent of the tactical voting against them which took place where they were in a position of strength.

The Tories were always likely to get squeezed. It doesn't always happen to the third party - for example, the story of the night 5 years ago in Livingston was that our 3rd place vote pretty much held up for candidate Charles Dundas - but on this occasion, they were. I suspect they'll consider the result pretty much as expected.

The Liberal Democrat result confounded the pundits who had sagely warned of our demise. It seems that the picture is a lot less bleak than political journalists paint it. Who would have predicted that our share of the vote would have increased, albeit by a tiny amount, from May? I do feel really heartbroken for Elwyn and his energetic team who couldn't have put any more effort into it and I really wanted him to win, but they can be very proud of what they achieved against a narrative which said we were stuffed.  I do wonder, though, whether we were a bit too cautious in calling the election so quickly. If the result had been really bad, it could have been blamed on a brief campaign in the harshest of Winters. All the signs were that we were the ones with the momentum. I think in another week or two, we might have pulled it off. We'll never know - and you can't blame the powers that be for being risk averse - but in future, let's see them reach high rather than try to limit damage. The time for timidity is over.

The Oldham result tells us is that we can afford to be more ambitious, and more upbeat. All the reports I hear on the ground suggest that our vote is holding up well. There's probably nobody whose knocked on more doors in Scotland than Alex Cole-Hamilton, Liberal Democrat candidate in Edinburgh Central. He's been bold and upbeat right since his selection in July and it's paying dividends as his team recruits loads of enthusiastic activists.  He and his team have been out there in the most freezing of temperatures, no matter how much snow and ice has been around. They are finding that their intensive effort is paying dividends already. Hopefully in May, he'll be in Holyrood as MSP.

One final thing - I wish the BNP had come last. I'd much rather have seen the Bus Pass Elvis Party beat them. At least they hate filled racists lost their deposits in an election where there was a danger their vote could have increased. It just goes to show that a hard fought campaign, which properly engages with people, can push them down.

Salmond hails Liberal Democrat Alex Cole-Hamilton's anti-fees record

At First Minister's Questions today, Alex Salmond name checked Edinburgh Central Liberal Democrat candidate Alex Cole-Hamilton.

Brandishing a newspaper in response to a planted question on tuition fees from Christina McKelvie, he pointed out a photgraph of Alex Cole Hamilton with a no fees banner.

It was good of him to remind us all of Alex's long record as an anti fees campaigner and student activist. Alex was President of Aberdeen University's SRC as an independent and joined the Liberal Democrats because of the way we'd delivered on abolishing tuition fees in the first Holyrood Government. Then we faced a Labour Party who had promised not to introduce them south of the border and had, and who wanted a similar scheme in Scotland.

As I have said before, our conference in Dunfermline, just 3 days before the Browne Report came out, affirmed our commitment to free university education with the blessing of the Scottish leadership. Alex spoke passionately in that debate as I posted at the time.

Alex is in a close fight with Labour for Edinburgh Central. The voters have a clear choice between Alex, who has more than a decade of experience and commitment to free university tuition and Labour, who are going to be putting forward a plan which is not a million miles from the one the coalition are introducing down south.

Alex Cole-Hamilton opposes Botanic Gardens entrance charge

Liberal Democrat candidate for Edinburgh Central, Alex Cole-Hamilton, has spoken out against the proposed £5 entry fee for visitors to Edinburgh's beautiful Botanic Gardens. I used to take Anna there a lot when she was little and it's there she first learned to appreciate different plants and flowers, not to mention develop a fascination for squirrels. It's a favourite meeting spot for mums and children.

There's no way we'd be able to go if we had to pay £15 for the three of us to get in. It seems such an excessive charge and it would be a real shame if the gardens lay empty and unappreciated outside the tourist season.

Alex feels so strongly partly because he has a long standing love for Gardens and he and his wife Gillian were married there. Listen to him talk about it in the video below, which is also available here on You Tube.

Alex Cole-Hamilton's speech on tuition fees to Scottish Liberal Democrat Conference

Following on from yesterday's post, here's Alex Cole-Hamilton telling Scottish Liberal Democrat Conference last Saturday why we should vote down the amendment calling for a graduate tax.

In his he recalls how proud he was of the Liberal Democrats for standing up to Labour on this issue and how the graduate endowment was simply to help poorer students. It was not spent on paying for tuition in any way.

The clip is worth watching just for the images of Richard Baker producing draconian legislation in iambic pentameter.

Alex Cole-Hamilton reaaffirms Scottish Liberal Democrat commitment to free higher education

Alex Cole-Hamilton is the Scottish Liberal Democrat candidate for Edinburgh Central  for next year's elections.

I first met him 9.5 years ago during the 2001 election campaign when he was working in Edinburgh West. Before that, he'd been the President of Aberdeen University Students Representative Council.. As a former student leader he understands both the financial pressures students face and why we all need a flourishing higher education sector.

As this video shows, Alex joined the Liberal Democrats in the first place because of our success in abolishing tuition fees in the first Holyrood coalition and he remains committed to that policy today.



In Alex's words:

Without a well informed well educated graduate workforce, we can't hope to compete or be a leading source of innovation in the world economy.

Alex Cole-Hamilton to fight Edinburgh Central for the Scottish Liberal Democrats

Alex Cole-Hamilton has been selected to fight the marginal Edinburgh Central constituency for the Scottish Liberal Democrats in the elections next year.

Siobhan Mathers ran a brilliant campaign in 2007 and reduced the Labour majority, laying a strong foundation for the coming campaign.

Stephen Glenn was on the shortlist for the seat and he's given a real insight to what it's like to seek nomination, going round every party member. He fought a strong campaign and I don't want to make his head swell too much, but I had very good reports from all sorts of people about his campaign and thoughtful and intelligent hustings performance.

We had 4 super applicants and I'm sure they'll all be involved in the campaign in Central. Alex will be an excellent candidate and he knows how to run a motivated and energetic campaign - he was Kevin Lang's campaign manager in Edinburgh North and Leith in the run up to May and before that he was a fantastic list candidate in Mid Scotland and Fife, only narrowly missing out on election. He's also worked as Edinburgh West's constituency organiser.

I first met Alex in the run up to the 2001 general election campaign when we were both involved in organising Charles Kennedy's final stop of his election tour at the Gyle Centre. He is a passionate liberal with first hand knowledge of the problems young people face and how to resolve them. The Scottish Parliament would be a better place with him in it and I hope that he wins in May.