Alexander Geoffrey Cole-Hamilton (born 22 July 1977) is a politician who has served as leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats since 2021. Cole-Hamilton has been the member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Edinburgh North Western (previously Edinburgh Western) since 2016.
Born in England, Cole-Hamilton's family later moved to Scotland, where his family was politically active. After attending Madras College, Cole-Hamilton studied politics and international relations at the University of Aberdeen. Upon graduation, he worked primarily in the children's and social care sectors, and remained active within the Liberal Democrats. After several unsuccessful candidacies, Cole-Hamilton secured a seat for himself in the Scottish Parliament in the 2016 elections, representing Edinburgh Western as a Liberal Democrat. After the 2021 parliamentary elections produced the worst results in the party's history, Cole-Hamilton was unanimously elected to lead the Scottish Liberal Democrats in August 2021. He led the party through the 2022 local elections, and helped oversee the party's 2024 general election campaign in Scotland. In the 2026 Scottish parliamentary election, Cole-Hamilton led the party to gain six seats, earning a total of ten in Holyrood.
Cole-Hamilton describes himself as a liberal and progressive. He is opposed to Scotland holding another independence referendum. Cole-Hamilton is considered to be a close ally of Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats.
Early life and career Cole-Hamilton was born in Hertfordshire, England, the son of inorganic chemist Dr David John Cole-Hamilton, FRSE, FRSC, a lecturer at the University of Liverpool and speech therapist and marine archaeological academic Elizabeth Ann, daughter of RCNVR officer and government employee Bruce Lloyd Brown (1914–2002), of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, grandson of Alexander Brown, co-founder of Christie, Brown and Company, the largest Canadian manufacturer of biscuits.Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th ed., ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, vol. 1, p. 1329 His great-grandfather Richard Cole-Hamilton was Archdeacon of Brecon from 1947 to 1955. The Cole-Hamiltons descend from Arthur Cole-Hamilton, younger son of the Irish politician John Cole, 1st Baron Mountflorence, of Florence Court, whose eldest son and heir, William, was created Earl of Enniskillen. Relatives include Anni Cole-Hamilton, founder of the private Moray Firth School, and Air Vice Marshal John Cole-Hamilton.Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th ed., ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, vol. 1, pp. 1327-1329
Cole-Hamilton's family moved from Lancashire to Scotland when he was eight years old. He attended Madras College, a state school in St Andrews. At the age of nine, Cole-Hamilton’s father had him delivering leaflets for Menzies Campbell, the Liberal running to represent the Scottish constituency of North East Fife, during the 1987 general election. He attended the University of Aberdeen, studying international relations. During a May 2026 interview, he revealed that he was approached by the Foreign Office upon graduating from university with an offer to work at an embassy and potentially conduct “diplomatic service outside of the normal bounds” for MI6, ultimately turning down the offer due to his Quaker faith.
In 2000, he was appointed to the role of constituency organiser in the Liberal Democrat-held constituency of Edinburgh West. He went on to work for the Liberal Democrats in the Scottish Parliament until late 2003, when he was appointed as a policy and communications officer in the children’s voluntary sector. He worked for various organisations until his election in 2016, including YouthLink Scotland and Aberlour Child Care Trust. During this time he was also a Director of and then latterly the Convener of "Together (Scottish Alliance for Children's Rights)". Cole-Hmailton says his work in the children’s sector inspired him to run for office.
As part of "Operation Clark County", Cole-Hamilton wrote to a voter in Clark County, Ohio in an attempt to influence the 2004 United States presidential election.
Political career
Early career and Scottish Parliament Cole-Hamilton stood in several constituencies unsuccessfully as a Lib Dem candidate: at the 2003 Scottish Parliament election for the Kirkcaldy constituency; at the 2005 general election for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath; in 2007 for Stirling and in 2011 for Edinburgh Central.Edinburgh Central Constituency results 2011 Elections Edinburgh Retrieved 27 May 2023
Following the 2015 general election, Deputy Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg quoted Cole-Hamilton when delivering his resignation speech. He referred to the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, saying "In 2011 after a night of disappointing election results for our party in Edinburgh, Alex Cole-Hamilton said this: if his defeat was part-payment for the ending of child detention, then he accepted it with all his heart. Those words revealed a selfless dignity which is very rare in politics, but common amongst Liberal Democrats."
In May 2016, Cole-Hamilton was elected to the Scottish Parliament for the Edinburgh Western constituency. After the election, he was made Liberal Democrat in Scotland spokesperson for Health. Cole-Hamilton's 2016 electoral expenses were investigated in June of the following year, according to the Edinburgh Evening News: "Mr Cole-Hamilton recorded the highest election costs of any Edinburgh candidate, spending £32,549 on his campaign while his rival for the Edinburgh Western seat, SNP candidate Tony Giugliano, spent £18,593." While Cole-Hamilton was cleared of any wrongdoing, the party was fined for failing to file an accurate spending return on its national spending return. He received the 'one to watch' award at the Herald – Scottish Politician of the Year Awards in August 2016.
In 2018, Cole-Hamilton successfully persuaded the Scottish Government to reverse a planned funding cut to HIV Scotland that would have sunk that organisation. In 2020, during parliamentary deliberation of the first Coronavirus Act, Cole-Hamilton introduced amendments which forced a government U-turn on their proposals to abolish jury trials in Scotland for the duration of the emergency.
From 2019 until March 2021, he was a member of the Committee on the Scottish Government Handling of Harassment Complaints against the former First Minister, Alex Salmond. He later described his time with the committee as "a very dark experience."
In February 2021, Cole-Hamilton was forced to apologise after having been seen swearing at Minister for Children and Young People Maree Todd during an online committee hearing. He wrote Todd a letter of apology, as well as publicly apologising in the Holyrood Chamber the week after, saying his language was “neither parliamentary nor respectful.” The National reported in February 2024 that revisions to Cole-Hamilton’s Wikipedia article relating to the incident were ‘removed’ via a computer in the Scottish Parliament.
At the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, Cole-Hamilton received 25,578 votes, the highest number of votes ever cast for a single candidate in a Scottish Parliament election. He beat the runner-up, SNP candidate Sarah Masson, by 9,885 votes.
Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats
On 27 July 2021, Cole-Hamilton announced his intention to stand in the upcoming Scottish Liberal Democrats leadership election to replace Willie Rennie. He won the election unopposed on 20 August 2021 and took office the same day. Upon his election as leader, Cole-Hamilton led just 3 other MSPs, the party’s lowest representation since the creation of the Scottish parliament. He said the party would support environmentalist policies, avoid nationalism, advocate for minorities, and seek to improve education.
In April 2022, he unveiled the party’s manifesto for the 2022 local elections. Commitments included a replacement for the council tax and opposing Holyrood setting policies for local services, including social work, children's services, community justice and alcohol and drug services. Cole-Hamilton sought to center the party’s campaign around political decentralisation, and said the LibDems would support giving councillors more control over local tax rates and spending decisions, as well as transport, planning, energy and housing decisions. The elections saw an increase of 20 councillors to 87, and increased vote share to 8.7% for the LibDems.
He has prioritised campaigning on children's mental health, long covid, tackling the climate crisis and supporting Ukrainian refugees. He was sanctioned by the Kremlin in August 2022 following his public criticism of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and his efforts to highlight Russian influence in Scotland.
Cole-Hamilton spoke at an Oxford Union debate on Scottish independence on 24 February 2023, during which he compared the Yes movement with the push for Brexit. This was criticised by Corri Wilson, deputy general secretary of the independence-supporting Alba Party.
In December 2023, Cole-Hamilton was criticised after he attempted to take part in a parliamentary debate through video link from outside the parliamentary bar.
He disagreed with First Minister John Swinney's attempts to exclude Reform UK from a across-party summit to counter the far-right, telling BBC Scotland that he had “deep concerns about anything which aims to stifle a democratically elected voice" preferring instead to defeat arguments he disagrees with in "open ground". In 2025, he helped initiate a government summit to address a shortage in ADHD medications. In April 2025, he took part in the ‘Initiative to bring Scotland together - democracy and respect’ summit convened by John Swiney.
In February 2026, the SNP’s £68 billion budget proposal for 2026 to 2027 passed with support from the Liberal Democrats. Cole-Hamilton explained at his party’s spring conference that month that the party had "squeezed every penny we could" after securing a £300 million funding package for their key priorities, among them being a 10% increase in payments to colleges, as well as more money for hospices, autism services and ADHD assessments, as well as increased support for the hospitality sector. He argued the budget agreement showed that his party was ‘are serious about getting stuff done’ and praised MSP Jaimie Greene for leading negotiations with the SNP, describing the budget as an opportunity “too important to miss”.
2024 general election
Cole-Hamilton declined a meeting with then-First Minister Humza Yousaf, after he was invited to meet in hopes of gathering Liberal Democrat support for Yousaf against a no-confidence motion that would ultimately topple his government. Upon Yousaf’s resignation as First Minister in May 2024, Cole-Hamilton submitted his name for nomination as Scotland's next FM. He received four votes at the First Minister selection, losing to John Swinney who succeeded Yousaf as the leader of the SNP.