It takes a lot for the Scottish Liberal Democrats to make headlines, but party leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today gone and done it. The Lib Dem leader made a rather embarrassing gaffe when trying to vote remotely on a recent Holyrood motion, prompting calls for the politician to apologise for his ‘inappropriate’ conduct.
Absent from the Chamber, Cole-Hamilton used his phone to raise a point of order, projecting his face onto the parliament screen without quite managing to keep his background discreet. MSPs were quick to spot Cole-Hamilton in the parliament’s pub Margo’s, a mere minute’s walk away from the Chamber.
Calls of ‘shame!’ and ‘disgrace!’ from his eagle-eyed colleagues were heard in the room while the deputy presiding officer Liam McArthur looked very much less than impressed. It’s reported that one politician was overheard telling former Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie: ‘We’d have never have got that from you, Willie.’
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