Sir Ed Davey ‘very bullish’ about Lib Dem prospects for Holyrood 2026 election

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey insisted his party is “bullish” about its prospects in next year’s Holyrood election.

Lib Dems saw their tally of MSPs drop from five to four in the 2021 ballot – but Sir Ed is hopeful that voters disillusioned with other parties could turn to them.

He hopes his party can more than double the number of MSPs it has, saying that next year’s Scottish elections could be “one of our best results for many years”.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has already claimed the party could score a historic result next May, overtaking the Conservatives for the first time ever in the Scottish Parliament.

And Sir Ed told the PA news agency: “I think Alex is spot on.

“I’ve said the Liberal Democrats across the United Kingdom could overtake the Conservatives, we feel they really have given up on the principles they believe in.

“People want those British values of tolerance, of decency, of respect for the rule of law, and the modern Conservative Party have left those behind.”

He added that “many people who were lifelong Conservatives” were now abandoning the party and instead voting for the Lib Dems “not only here in Scotland, but across the United Kingdom”.

With the Holyrood elections now just seven months away, the Liberal Democrat leader added: “We believe we can make real progress across the whole of Scotland, I think we can get one of our best results for many years, more than doubling our result from last time.”

He said his party could “win” on the regional list vote as voters become disenchanted with the SNP, Labour and the Conservatives.

Sir Ed stated: “People are fed up of the SNP, they’ve been let down after so many years.

“They’re certainly not going to the Conservatives after the mess they made and they’ve been very disappointed in Labour, so we feel we’re on the up and we’re very bullish about our prospects next May.”

Sir Ed spoke as he visited North East Fife, an area that has become a stronghold for his party, with former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Menzies Campbell, who died last month, having represented the constituency at Westminster for almost three decades.

The current leader said he had travelled to the area to meet local activists who are “grieving” the loss.

He said: “We’ll share some anecdotes, no doubt some funny stories about what an amazing person he was.”

Visiting a pumpkin patch at a farm outside Cupar, Sir Ed also  met with members of young carers, praising they “amazing job” they do “looking after their loved ones”.

He also hailed the support given to them by the Fife Young Carers group, adding: “As a young carer in the past, looking after my mum it means an awful lot to me and I think we need to give them more support.”