'Hard to see' Nicola Sturgeon remaining in office beyond 2026, Scottish Lib Dem leader suggests

Alex Cole-Hamilton has said it is “hard to see” how First Minister Nicola Sturgeon can lead her “viper’s nest” of a party into the next Holyrood elections.

The leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats suggested that part of Ms Sturgeon would rather have a “nice academic job” in the US, instead of remaining at the helm of the SNP at a time it is facing a flare up of its “internecine civil war.”

Speaking ahead of his first party conference as leader, Mr Cole-Hamilton said Scotland had been “held back by a clash of nationalisms” for the better part of a decade, and that the public was “hungry for something different.”

He said: “I hope that we can just move on from the constitutional washing machine that we’re in and focus on the delivery of government.

“I think that we have been locked in a slightly artificial political conundrum. This binary choice between the SNP and the Conservatives - I don’t think the majority of the Scottish people, genuinely in their heart of hearts, want either of them.

“There will come a time, very soon I hope, where people see they don’t need to make that choice, they can vote for something different.”

Speaking to reporters, Mr Cole-Hamilton, who succeeded Willie Rennie as his party’s leader in August, accused the Scottish Greens of “dispensing with the traditions established by Robin Harper” and swapping “environmentalism for nationalism.”

Alex Cole-Hamilton, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, said part of Nicola Sturgeon would rather have a "nice academic job. "Picture: Tom Eden/PA Wire

“If the Greens won’t be the thorn in the side of the government on the environment, then the Lib Dems will,” he insisted. “Already we’re seeing that they’re caving on their principles.”

He added: “We know the majority of Green supporters do not support independence, so I think this will be a bit of a wake up call for people who have been lending their support to them all this time. If they want environmentalism without the baggage of nationalism, they’ve got to come with the Lib Dems.”

Asked about the long-term political future of Ms Sturgeon, the 44-year-old said he would not be “placing any bets” - a reference to the wager between Ms Sturgeon and Douglas Ross over whether she will quit before the next election - but said it was “hard to see how” she could lead the SNP into 2026 and beyond.

“She has an internecine civil war within her own party which might be dormant just now, but I think is about to flare up again on a range of issues,” he said. “She has a fundamentalist and a gradualist wing of her party that will come to blows when they realise there isn’t going to be an independence referendum in 2023.

“She’s looked exhausted for a long time, and I can understand that - she’s put in a lot of hours’ work in terms of the pandemic, and I wouldn’t take that away from her. You’ve got to think that part of her would much rather have a nice academic job in America or something, rather than have to lead a viper’s nest of a party.”

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