The Scottish Liberal Democrats have started their campaigning for the Holyrood election early, with their leader claiming they can win “seats in every region” of Scotland.
Willie Rennie, who was addressing the party’s virtual conference, even made the bold prediction that his party can “stop the SNP” (Scottish National Party) from “winning an overall majority” at the Holyrood election scheduled for May 06.
Rennie used most of his speech to denigrate other opposition parties in Scotland, notably the Tories who he claimed are “set to lose seats”.
On the Labor Party in Scotland, Rennie claimed they will “take time to find their feet” under newly-elected leader Anas Sarwar.
As for the Green Party, Rennie claimed they “always back the SNP” when the ruling party requires their support.
By contrast, Rennie asserted that only the Liberal Democrats, who he claimed have plans in place to “put recovery first”, are ready to “win more seats”.
"Our gains will make the difference between an [SNP] government that can do whatever it wants, however damaging, and a government that has to listen", Rennie told a virtual meeting of top party leaders and officials.
But Rennie’s bold predictions are not matched by the reality of the Liberal Democrat’s weak position in Scottish politics.
Currently they hold only five of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) and there is no opinion polling pointing to a Lib Dems breakthrough in May’s election.
Rennie, who has led the Scottish Lib Dems for nearly a decade, was speaking after the party’s UK leader, Ed Davey, addressed the virtual conference on Friday (March 05).