THE outgoing leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats says his party is planning to work with Labour to try and win back voters from the SNP and Conservatives.
Willie Rennie said the move would target support from “middle Scotland”, although it would not be a formal pact between the parties, which both lost seats in May’s election.
It comes after the MSP for North East Fife last week announced his intention to “stand aside” as leader of the Scottish LibDems after more than a decade in the role.
His party recorded a disappointing result in May’s election, losing one seat overall. With just four MSPs, the party lost its automatic right to a question at First Minister’s Questions and a place on key parliamentary committees.
In an interview with The Times published yesterday, Rennie said: “I think working together with Labour on issues of common interest would be a good thing.
“I wouldn’t run before we can walk. But [it would] build confidence between the parties and also amongst the electorate to show we’re getting our act together.”
Rennie, who has said he intends to stay in politics, praised Anas Sarwar’s leadership of Scottish Labour, saying he had given the party confidence again.
He claimed that many moderate and centre-left voters chose their party on the basis of keeping out “the other side”, rather than policies.
He added: “This is about trying to show that for middle Scotland there is something better and stronger than the Conservatives or the SNP, that it’s got energy, it’s got momentum, it’s got ideas, and that’s the most important thing, so people know that if they vote for it, it will be worth it.
“The actual mechanism is less important – it’s the energy behind it that matters.”
Labour took 22 seats in this year’s Holyrood election, which was two down on the 2016 result.
Sarwar has confirmed he is open to working with the LibDems.
He said: “This isn’t about pacts or deals but about showing the people of Scotland that another type of politics is possible.”
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