Alex Cole-Hamilton stands for First Minister of Scotland
"Presiding Officer, I rise to speak to my candidacy for the office of First Minister of Scotland.
"I am a candidate in this contest because this is a democracy, and democracies are about the presentation of differing visions as to how things could be, about bringing to the fore the priorities of the constituents who sent us all here to this place.
"Here and now, we are as far as it is possible to be from a Scottish Parliamentary election. We are midstream and have a governing party in disarray, adrift and out of ideas.
"It brings to mind of the words of Robert Browning, who nearly two centuries ago wrote:
“Glad was I when I reached the other bank.
Now for a better country”
"The members in this chamber will reject my candidacy today, I understand that, but ours is a vision for that better country.
"You will not hear a prospectus more positive or ambitious for Scotland from any of the other voices in this contest. Because Liberal Democrats believe in a Scotland that is industrious, innovative and internationalist of outlook.
"I want us to imagine things again, to make things again, to harness the collective potential of our peoples and our natural resources. A Scotland that delivers for those working in our schools, in our hospitals and in our fields. They are tired of the ministerial disinterest that has characterised much of this past 16 years. They are tired of a government fixated on the break up of the United Kingdom.
"We have to put the people first.
"Liberal Democrats understand what matters to them because we ask them, door by door and street by street in the villages and towns of Scotland. They want to know when they will get that hip replacement; they want to know why their kid was left behind in school or can’t get mental health treatment.
"They want to know why they have to live in a cold home.
"They are looking to this chamber for answers.
"This is why I’m in politics, it’s what keeps me awake at night. Presiding officer, Liberal Democrats would cut waiting times and abandon the SNP power grab of social care.
"We would deliver an emergency insulation programme that makes every home a warm one, while slashing our carbon emissions.
"And we would strive to make our classrooms inviting places to work and learn by always paying our teachers what they deserve, tackling violence in our schools and scrapping national testing. Liberal Democrats are by nature solution-focused and we are crackling with policy ideas- we need some of them right now.
"Presiding Officer, our world is changing, Scotland faces big international questions, our planet is on fire in the climate emergency, we are witness to the mass displacement of those fleeing unimaginable atrocities, and we will look back on this time with an understanding that we were already living in the early days of a new cold war.
"These challenges demand a new kind of politics, it is a politics of hope, of democratic reform, a politics of common endeavour across nations that share our values and our corner of the world. So I stand today on that ticket. Because the Scottish Liberal Democrats are the party of cooperation across these islands. The party of local power through federalism. And yes, the true party of Europe.
"Make no mistake. There is more water behind this government than lies ahead of it. Change is coming and Liberal Democrats will be part of what’s next. If we want it to, that change could start with this vote this afternoon.
"We don’t have to settle for continuity, for mediocrity, for more of the divisive and dreary same.
"That other bank could actually be in sight. We just have to reach for it. Now, for a better country."