The MSP who came in from the cold

We’d heard there could be cameras trained on the front entrance to Eden Court looking for Jamie Greene after he had sensationally resigned from the Conservative Party just the day before. With speculation rife about what he might do next, journalists were watching our gathering in the Highland capital with great interest. So, we brought him in through the loading dock.

Despite having talked with Jamie many times about his unhappiness with his former party lurching to extremes, he didn’t give me very much time when he finally decided to take the plunge. It was the Motion of Condolence for our recently departed SNP colleague, Christina McKelvie MSP , on Wednesday afternoon which crystalised his thinking. Jamie spoke with great feeling about their work together on issues from equalities to drug deaths and of the need for more decency in our politics.

He tells me that was the moment the penny dropped. His decision made, there followed little over 24 hours of blistering top secret preparation, right down to asking my Highland cousin to mind Jamie’s dog for a night. He resigned the Conservative Party whip first thing on Thursday, in an excoriating letter to leader Russell Findlay.

He explained how he had joined them at a time when Ruth Davidson offered a socially liberal, inclusive vision for Scotland built around unifying platforms like the pursuit of net zero. He went on to describe how the modern party he joined no longer exists, becoming "Trump-esque in both style and substance" and driven by a "grotesque dance" with the Reform Party. And so he joined the Liberal Democrats and was met by an uproarious standing ovation from party members.

Jamie’s defection to the Lib Dems will come to be seen as a mile marker for a realignment in our politics that has already started. It takes a lot of courage to change party, whether you have represented them at Parliament or on the council, leafleted, donated or are even just in the habit of voting for them. But Jamie's inbox is now full of people who are saying enough is enough, and taking courage from his decision to back us instead.

The Lib Dems' wins last year were record-breaking, we have momentum and we have become a muster point for everyone who sees us hard at work in their communities. Many Scots are feeling scunnered and politically homeless right now. There is a home for you with the Liberal Democrats if you believe in bringing decency and respect back into our politics, if you are open and outward looking, because our communities need local champions focused on what really matters and getting things done.

Jamie is known and respected for his work on the ferries fiasco, on tackling drug deaths, on standing up for victims of crime and much more besides. I'm over the moon that he sees in the Scottish Liberal Democrats a chance to make our voices even louder on the issues that matter. Jamie has built a bridge for people of different political traditions to now cross.

In his speech to conference, Jamie issued a powerful call to action which I know speaks to decent Scots everywhere: “In these dangerous times that we live in, let me be direct. The language of hatred, of right-wing populism and of scapegoating people must be fought against, and it must be defeated.” So say we all.

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