Charity worker gets Lib Dem vote for seat

LIBERAL Democrats in Edinburgh North and Leith have chosen charity worker Alex Cole-Hamilton as their candidate for the next Scottish Parliament elections in 2011.

The party is targeting the constituency as its second most winnable seat in Scotland.

Mr Cole-Hamilton previously stood as candidate for Holyrood in Kirkcaldy in 2003 and for Westminster in Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath in 2005. And last year he narrowly missed out on a seat in the Scottish Parliament as number one on the mid-Scotland and Fife regional list.

He is a senior manager for a national children’s charity and lives in Leith with his wife Gillian, Lib Dem candidate in Edinburgh East and Musselburgh last year, and their baby son. Labour’s Malcolm Chisholm had a majority of 2444 over the Lib Dems in the seat at last year’s election.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said: “The fact that our party has chosen to select a Scottish Parliamentary candidate in this seat some three years before the next election is a measure of just how significant we regard the opportunity for victory here.”