Meeting of the Parliament 21 May 2026 [Draft]
We in the Liberal Democrats can assure John Swinney that although we will have profound disagreements, including on the constitution, we will hunt for agreement. We will do that because this place needs to work, and it has not been working well enough for years.
We were sent two signals in the election. One of those was the incredibly low turnout. A lot of people just did not bother to turn out because they did not believe that this place offered an answer to their problems. The second signal is staring us in the face: it is the 17 Reform MSPs who are here. I would prefer that they were not here, but they were sent here democratically by the voters, who have sent us a very clear signal that they are hurting.
Many people would say to me, “Willie, I work hard and I pay my tax. I pay more tax now, but I come home and my house is cold. My bills are going up, but I look around and I see that people are getting stuff for free, and I think I’m paying for it.” They have felt that way since 2008 and they have been promised solutions ever since, but those solutions have not come. The problem is that, in those circumstances, they look around to blame other people if we—all of us in this place—do not deliver. I do not like what they say, but we must listen hard to it and provide solutions, because, unless we do, there will be more Reform members in this Parliament in future years, and I do not want that to happen.
We need to find solutions. Liberal Democrats have positive, tolerant, open and altruistic solutions. We need to look internationally for solutions and to work in partnership to ensure that we put value on the goodness of work and enable everybody to participate in society. That is a hard lesson for us; we need to learn it, and learn it fast.
I think that people turned to the Liberal Democrats in the election. We have a bigger group than we have had for many years—in fact, this is the first time that our group has grown since 1999. I like to take some credit for that, although I am no longer leader, because I managed to bring the Liberal Democrats to the lowest possible level. Before Alex Cole-Hamilton gets carried away, he should be reminded that he got the lowest percentage of the vote of any returning Liberal Democrat.
I pay tribute to the new ministers. As Neil Bibby indicated, it is hard to see others get on the ministerial ladder. Those of us who come into politics are desperate to get stuff done and to get our hands on the levers of power, so we are, frankly, jealous of the new ministers. It is hard to see people move on. Despite feeling that way, I can see the excitement in their faces, and that is a joy to see.
I want to pick out a few of the new ministers. The first is my neighbour, Jenny Gilruth, who I have shadowed on education for some years. She is a fellow Fifer. Her mother is a constituent, who, I think, secretly votes for me. Jenny keeps denying it, but I think that it is true.
I say to those who are hoping to get support from Jenny Gilruth that she was the one who said to 150 teachers at the Educational Institute of Scotland hustings last year, “Don’t you shake your head at me.” People who think that they will get anything out of Jenny Gilruth will get a hard deal. However, perhaps she will be able to deliver on the things that she has talked about in education by delivering transfers of funding to it to deal with issues such as additional support needs. There is a big opportunity there.
I talked about pain. There are two individuals in this Parliament who have caused me pain—one some time ago, and one in recent weeks.
The first is Stephen Gethins, who memorably defeated us by just two votes in 2017—I have had many nightmares ever since. However, if there was anybody to lose to, it would be Stephen Gethins, because he is a fine parliamentarian and I am sure that he will make an excellent minister.
The more recent pain was caused by Hannah Mary Goodlad, who managed to take the seat of Shetland, which has been Liberal for ever. She managed to do it with some style, and I am sure that she will be a very good minister. She has got the seat, and the seat at the table, that she craved and I hope—