'Politics can be a blood sport': Alex Cole-Hamilton on surfing and the Holyrood campaign

But he is also hoping to be in a position of wider influence after the polls close on May 7, as a loud voice in a "parliament of minorities".

As part of a new series, The Scotsman is putting a fresh twist on the political interview, by quizzing Scotland’s party leaders while taking part in a hobby or interest of theirs.

For Mr Cole-Hamilton, an enthusiastic surfer, that meant a visit to the Lost Shore resort near Edinburgh, home to Europe’s largest wave pool. It can be a tough gig, this journalism lark, but somebody has got to do it.

In truth, it was a nerve-racking prospect. I have never surfed before - nor ever really considered it.

But after a beginner’s lesson from Jono, our friendly Australian instructor, I am proud to say I managed to remain upright for a grand total of about three seconds before being flung into the freezing waves. It was brilliant.

“I’ve been surfing probably 25 years,” Mr Cole-Hamilton said. “But I’m kind of like a three-or-four-times-a-year guy. But it is absolutely my happy place, and when this place opened just 10 miles from my house - oh my word, I was in heaven.”

The Liberal Democrats are targeting 10 constituencies next month, including those they already hold or largely hold under new boundaries - Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands, North East Fife and the new constituency of Edinburgh North Western.

The others are Caithness, Sutherland and Ross; Inverness and Nairn; Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch; Argyll and Bute (which Mr Cole-Hamilton insists could be “the surprise of the night”); Strathkelvin and Bearsden; and the new seat of Edinburgh Northern.

"I think we are there or thereabouts - as in, over the line - in all of them,” Mr Cole-Hamilton said. “I think we've got the beating of the SNP. We’re speaking to thousands of people every week.”

But the Lib Dems - who returned four MSPs in 2021, later gaining another when Jamie Greene defected from the Tories - are also hammering a message centred on the “peach-coloured” ballot paper, or the regional list vote.

There has long been talk of a potential Labour-Lib Dem coalition at Holyrood, led by Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar. But polls show the two parties falling far short of the numbers required. Does this make the Lib Dems irrelevant?

"No, not at all,” said Mr Cole-Hamilton. “First and foremost, there's no pact or alliances with Labour. We are up for change that shares our values - that might include Labour, it might not. 

"But we're not going to do a deal with the SNP, we're not going to do a deal with Reform or the Tories.

"So I'm just focused on getting as many Lib Dem MSPs elected. As for relevance, one thing that's clear is that in a parliament of minorities, we know how to make our voices heard.

“That is why we drove the SNP to some massive budget commitments in the last two budgets, whether that is on £178 million on business rates, whether that's on social care workers, on hospices, on support for babies - the 1,500 babies who have been born addicted to drugs since 2015.

"So with the Lib Dems you will always get people who will roll up their sleeves, work for your community and make a difference in parliament."

He said Nigel Farage’s Reform UK - who are on course for a spectacular electoral breakthrough in Scotland - are "overpriced".

"I think they've come from nowhere and to nowhere they will return,” he said.

"We're already starting to see that as they are exposed to scrutiny and the white heat of the election campaign, they are coming apart at the seams. I mean, I have never seen a more shambolic start to an election campaign."

Elsewhere, Mr Cole-Hamilton argued new legislation on assisted dying should be brought back in the next parliamentary term. "I think for as long as there are Scots who are deprived of a good death, then this will remain an unanswered question.”

He added: "I would hope it would be brought back in the next parliament."

The Lib Dem leader said he would be “very proud and very humbled“ to bring forward such a bill, but suggested he may not be the right person because he has previously been “quite a divisive character“.

Earlier in our conversation, he admitted: "There are a lot of people in other parties who probably wouldn't cross the road to spit on me if I was on fire.”

Mr Cole-Hamilton has previously been open about the toll taken by the abuse he receives as a politician. Does he think politics is becoming increasingly toxic in Scotland?

"I think it has the potential to be very toxic if we let it, but that is why I've resolved to fight this campaign as positive as I can,” he said.

The Lib Dem added: "Politics is a brutal game. It can be a blood sport, but only if we let it. I think that it's incumbent on us to reach for the better nature of the people who send us to parliament, to find common ground where we can. 

"That's why the Lib Dems have shown in working with others, we're prepared to get stuff done, even if it means laying aside old tribal differences and striking a deal. 

"And that matters to people. I think that people get so fed up of the name-calling and the mud-slinging and the dark arts of politics. It doesn't need to be like that.”

Maybe more people should grab a surf board, ride the waves and just, like, chill out, dude.

You can watch the full interview with Alex Cole-Hamilton - alongside some gnarly surfing footage - on YouTube and The Scotsman’s website.