Alex Cole-Hamilton rules out coalition deal with SNP after 2026 election

The Scottish Liberal Democrats “wouldn’t touch” the SNP to form a coalition post-2026, leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has said.

Speaking exclusively to Holyrood, Cole-Hamilton predicted his party will be “part of what comes next” but ruled out a deal with the nationalists.

He said: “If the SNP collapsed so much that they needed our help, we wouldn't touch them. I just don't see circumstances where, after what will be nearly 20 years of SNP government, we could sustain a continuation of that.”

He also ruled out working with the Conservatives, saying they and the SNP had “both been in power for too long”.

On a deal with Labour, he said he would work with the party but that “doesn't mean we're going into bed with them” – suggesting an alliance on a vote-by-vote basis short of a formal coalition could be an option.

The next Scottish Parliament election is scheduled for May 2026. Polling indicates the SNP and Labour will be fighting it out for the most seats.

Support for the nationalists collapsed following the resignation of former first minister Nicola Sturgeon and the resulting leadership contest in 2023, while support for Labour has increased.

Earlier this year, a series of polls put Labour ahead of the SNP but the party has fallen back since the general election which put Keir Starmer in Downing Street.

The Lib Dems have remained relatively stable, polling between seven and nine per cent, which would result in winning more seats than their current four.

Cole-Hamilton was speaking to Holyrood about ongoing budget negotiations with the SNP minority government.

He said there were “still big gaps and barriers” to a deal between the two parties, “but we’re talking”.

Asked about the possibility of a snap election should negotiations fail, he said while his party does not “fear” going to the polls, this would have negative implications for the budget.

Due to the nature of the Scotland Act, the parliament has to agree to income tax rates and bands before the beginning of the new financial year. If the Budget Bill were to fall in February, that leaves a matter of weeks for an election to take place and a rates resolution motion to be passed.

Cole-Hamilton said: “This government has run its course. It’s marking time. It's clear, they're tired, the mistakes they're making are legion, whether that's the ferries, whether that's the deposit return scheme, whether that's the assault on mental health spending, all of these are bad decisions. They need to make better decisions, and sometimes the government just runs out of road and we are up for going back to the country.

“However, my anxiety is that in the time it takes to do that, what happens with the budget? What happens with the local government funding assessments? People's pay cheques? There's a balance there.

“I'm not going to cause the country unnecessary pain because an impasse has happened here. I think the country would expect us to start acting like grown-ups and do our jobs.”

Also speaking to Holyrood, Labour’s finance spokesperson Michael Marra said that if the government failed to pass a budget resulting in an election, that would be a “grotesque dereliction of duty”.

He said: “If the SNP government manage to get this country into a position of having an additional general election when they have just been given £3.4bn in additional spending next year, a total of £5bn of extra spending, it would be a grotesque dereliction of duty on their part, and it would be all on them as the governing party who are incredibly close to having a majority.

“Let's not kid on that is anything other than entirely on them. That is their responsibility to do a deal. They have to bring not just the right attitude, but try to understand where the other parties are in order to get through that process.”

Finance secretary Shona Robison will deliver the Scottish budget on Wednesday 4 December.

Negotiations with opposition parties will continue into the new year, when the Budget Bill will go through parliament.