After attending Madras College,a state school in St Andrews,[6] he graduated from the University of Aberdeen with a degree in politics and international relations. There,he was President of the Students' Representative Council from 1999 until 2000,where he was actively involved in negotiations with coalition ministers to abolish tuition fees in Scotland.
On leaving Aberdeen in 2000,he was appointed to the role of constituency organiser in the Liberal Democrat held constituency of Edinburgh West. He went on to work for the Liberal Democrats in the Scottish Parliament until late 2003 at which point he was appointed as a policy and communications officer in the Children’s voluntary sector,where he worked for various organisations until his election in 2016,including YouthLink Scotland and Aberlour Child Care Trust.[7] During this time he was also a Director of and then latterly the Convener of "Together (Scottish Alliance for Children's Rights)".[8]
Cole-Hamilton stood in several constituencies unsuccessfully as a Lib Dem candidate:at the 2003 Scottish Parliament election for the Kirkcaldy constituency;[10] at the 2005 general election for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath;in 2007 for Stirling[11] and in 2011 for Edinburgh Central.[12]
Following the 2015 general election,Deputy Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg quoted Cole-Hamilton when delivering his resignation speech. He referred to the 2011 Scottish Parliament election,saying "In 2011 after a night of disappointing election results for our party in Edinburgh,Alex Cole-Hamilton said this:if his defeat was part-payment for the ending of child detention,then he accepted it with all his heart. Those words revealed a selfless dignity which is very rare in politics,but common amongst Liberal Democrats."[13]
In May 2016,Cole-Hamilton was elected to the Scottish Parliament for the Edinburgh Western constituency.[14] After the election,he was made Scottish Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Health. Cole-Hamilton's 2016 electoral expenses were investigated in June of the following year,[15] according to the Edinburgh Evening News:"Mr Cole-Hamilton recorded the highest election costs of any Edinburgh candidate,spending £32,549 on his campaign while his rival for the Edinburgh Western seat,SNP candidate Tony Giugliano,spent £18,593." While Cole-Hamilton was cleared of any wrongdoing,the party was fined for failing to file an accurate spending return on its national spending return. He received the 'one to watch' award at the Herald –Scottish Politician of the Year Awards in August 2016.[16]
In 2018,Cole-Hamilton successfully persuaded the Scottish Government to reverse a planned funding cut to HIV Scotland that would have sunk that organisation.[17] In 2020,during parliamentary deliberation of the first Coronavirus Act,Cole-Hamilton introduced amendments which forced a government U-turn on their proposals to abolish jury trials in Scotland for the duration of the emergency.[18]
In February 2021,Cole-Hamilton was forced to apologise after having been seen swearing at Minister for Children and Young PeopleMaree Todd during an online committee hearing.[20] He wrote Todd a letter of apology,as well as publicly apologising in the Holyrood Chamber the week after,saying his language was “neither parliamentary nor respectful.”[21]The National reported in February 2024 that revisions to Cole-Hamilton’s Wikipedia article relating to the incident were ‘removed’via a computer in the Scottish Parliament.[22]
At the 2021 Scottish Parliament election,Cole-Hamilton received 25,578 votes,the highest number of votes ever cast for a single candidate in the Scottish Parliament election. He beat the runner-up,SNP candidate Sarah Masson,by 9,885 votes.[23]
Cole-Hamilton speaking in the Scottish Parliament in May 2024.
On 27 July 2021, Cole-Hamilton announced his intention to stand in the upcoming Scottish Liberal Democrats leadership election to replace Willie Rennie.[24] He won the election unopposed on 20 August 2021 and took office the same day.[25] He led the party into the 2022 local elections, which saw an increase of 20 councillors to 87, and increased vote share to 8.7%.[26]
He has prioritised campaigning on children's mental health, long covid, tackling the climate crisis and supporting Ukrainian refugees. He was sanctioned by the Kremlin in August 2022 following his public criticism of the Russian invasion of Ukraine,[27] and his efforts to highlight Russian influence in Scotland.
Cole-Hamilton spoke at an Oxford Union debate on Scottish independence on 24 February 2023. during which he compared the Yes movement with the push for Brexit. This was criticised by Corri Wilson, deputy general secretary of the independence supporting Alba Party.[28]
In December 2023, Cole-Hamilton was criticised after he attempted to take part in a parliamentary debate through video link from outside the parliamentary bar.[29][30]
He disagreed with First MinisterJohn Swinney's attempts to exclude Reform UK from a across-party summit to counter the far-right, telling BBC Scotland that he had “deep concerns about anything which aims to stifle a democratically elected voice" preferring instead to defeat arguments he disagrees with in "open ground".[31]
In April 2025, he welcomed former Conservative MSP Jamie Greene into the Scottish Liberal Democrats, who cited the rise of “right-wing populism” in his former party as the reason for his defection. Cole-Hamilton described Greene an "effective communicator" who possessed "symmetry with our outlook and our values as a party".[32] Cole-Hamilton would later write that Greene's defection to the Lib Dems "felt like a scene from a John le Carré spy novel."[33] Speaking on the BBC’s The Sunday Show, Cole-Hamilton asserted he was comfortable with centre-right MSPs being a part of the Liberal Democrats.[34] He also predicted that more defections would follow, believing Greene's actions spoke to a greater 'realignment' in Scottish politics.[35]
"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."
Upon Humza Yousaf’s resignation as First Minister in May 2024, Cole-Hamilton submitted his name for nomination as Scotland's next FM. He received four votes at the First Minister selection, losing to John Swinney who succeeded Yousaf as the leader of the SNP.[38]
After Rishi Sunak called a general election on 22 May, Cole-Hamilton began campaigning for the Lib Dems, looking to “tear down the acid yellow wall of the SNP”.[39] Cole-Hamilton said the campaign would purposely avoid mentioning Scottish independence as an issue.[40] He instead prioritized housing, education, and NHS dental care among other issues.[41] Cole-Hamilton represented the Lib Dems in a STV debate on 3 June, the first debate of the general election.[42] He participated in another debate on 11 June hosted by BBC Scotland.[43] On 17 June, Cole-Hamilton unveiled the Scottish Lib Dems manifesto, which called for more funding for local agriculture, a new minimum wage for care workers, and more support to mental health services, among other issues.[44][45] He also promised to cut energy bills and fix Scotland's "broken" relationship with Europe.[46]
On 26 June, he said he had placed bets on elections in Scottish constituencies, describing them as "low-level bets" to "show confidence in my friends".[47]
Cole-Hamilton is married to wife, Gillian, a primary school teacher and Liberal Democrat candidate.[56] They live in Blackhall, Edinburgh and have three children.[57][58] In 2019, he resuscitated his daughter after she swallowed a 50c Euro coin. He used the publicity around this to raise awareness of the importance of infant first aid and organised several first aid training events in his constituency.[59]
His relative John Cole-Hamilton was Provost of Kilwinning from 1940 until 1947, Deputy Lord Lieutenant for the County of Ayr in 1951, and Chairman of the Central Ayrshire Conservative Party when that constituency was formed, and Richard Cole-Hamilton, former chief executive of the Clydesdale Bank.[60]
He also has a sister, with whom he stayed with in New York while campaigning for Kamala Harris in Pennsylvania during the 2024 American presidential election campaign.[61]
In May 2024, Cole-Hamilton announced he had been undergoing therapy for online abuse for the past two years. He said the Lib Dems were paying for the therapy, and that he made the announcement to “encourage others who were struggling to reach out and talk”.[62]
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