Alex Cole-Hamilton has predicted a Tory collapse at the upcoming council elections because he claims voters are “absolutely scunnered” in the wake of the Budget and partygate scandal.
The Scottish Liberal Democrat leader said that the Conservatives would “experience some hurt” when the polls open in May, with his party hoping to take advantage.
The Edinburgh Western MSP, who took over as leader from Willie Rennie last year, was speaking to us as he headed to the Highlands to join local campaigners in Aviemore, Inverness and Caithness.
Mr Cole-Hamilton predicted his contingent of Lib Dem councillors would “grow significantly” on May 5, with a few “surprises” expected, including in the Highlands.
He believed his party would benefit from disillusionment with the Westminster government over its underwhelming Budget on Wednesday, the escalating cost of living crisis, and the ongoing police investigation into allegations that parties and gatherings at 10 Downing Street had breached lockdown restrictions.
“Door by door and street by street, I meet Tories every night who are absolutely scunnered,” he said.
“They feel taken for granted, and that Boris Johnson has broken the rules that he has asked all of us to follow, and you know, people couldn’t be with their loved ones in their final moments, or they couldn’t attend funerals.
“All the time Number 10 were laughing at us. People are very, very angry.
‘They are going to experience some hurt’
“I think the Tories hoped Ukraine would knock that off the news agenda, and it has to a certain degree, but it’s not knocked it out of people’s memories.
“And they are going to experience some hurt for that at the coming elections.”
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has been criticised in the wake of his spring statement, amid claims it did not do enough to help a population facing the biggest fall in living standards since records began, due to soaring inflation and tax rises.
“I think it is also fair to say that the Budget has not gone down well,” the Lib Dem leader said.
“We had people out canvassing last night coming back and saying, to a household, this was a Budget for the well off, that nobody who is really going to feel the cost of living crisis is going to be helped by it.
“It’s another misstep from a Conservative government that has long since lost its way.”
Eleven of Highland Council’s 74 elected members are Lib Dems, and Mr Cole-Hamilton believed that number would rise in May.
‘Real green shoots of recovery’
“We’re really optimistic about growth in the Highlands. I see real green shoots of recovery, not just in the Highlands but all over the country,” he said.
“If you recall we won the Wick by-election from dead last at 3% of the vote in 2017. Same with Inverness West.
“This is, I think, a real strength. The two big council by-elections that have happened in the last six months have been Liberal Democrat gains, and we’re going to see more of that.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said: “We are running neck and neck with the SNP in local elections over the last year, while the Liberal Democrats are nowhere to be seen.
“The Lib Dems went backwards at last year’s Holyrood elections. They’re so irrelevant that the Scottish Parliament no longer considers them a party.
“Only the Scottish Conservatives have the strength to beat the SNP across Scotland, so we can deliver on people’s local priorities.”