LibDem Andrew Baxter says he can beat Kate Forbes at the 2026 election because ‘the political tide is turning’ and the seat is competitive ‘because my opponent is very much part of the problem’

LibDem Andrew Baxter says he can beat Kate Forbes at the 2026 election because “the political tide is turning” and the seat is competitive “because my opponent is very much part of the problem”.

It is no small matter taking-on a politician as respected and capable as Kate Forbes for the LibDem Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch but if Andrew Baxter is worried about it at all then he shows no signs of it when asked about it

Speaking at the Liberal Democrat conference in Inverness, an event charged by the defection of Jamie Greene who like Mr Baxter was a Conservative but is now in a left of centre party.

Asked about how he feels about running against someone who is generally considered one of the most formidable, popular and capable politicians in Scotland he said without irony: “Delighted”.

He continued: “I am excited about it because lots of people say ‘oh, you're up against Kate Forbes – she's got such a fantastic personal vote’.

“But when it comes down to it the political tide is moving, which I think it is as we saw that last year, so incumbency and a personal vote doesn't actually count for as much as people think”.

You think it's a competitive seat?

“I think it's absolutely a competitive seat partly because my opponent is very much part of the problem in terms of being a member of the existing SNP government and people seeing more and more that they've been let down and failed by that government over the last 18 years”.

So what are you running on, what's your major policy positions?

“I think there's three main ones that spring to mind at the moment,” he said.

“The lack of infrastructure improvements that we've seen in recent years, like we're still being told about A9 dualling which hasn't happened. Down on the west coast where I live the A82 upgrade and lots of other infrastructure issues like that across the Highlands.

“The second thing is health matters – whether that's people struggling to get a dentist that will take NHS patients or delays in hospital appointments or the appalling sewage discharge that we're seeing in Raigmore hospital at the moment.

“And thirdly, as a parent with two teenage children, we were told that Scotland had the best education system not in the United Kingdom but in the world. And I can tell you that, it's not at the moment and we're letting down not only our children but the teachers and staff that are there to get them through their school years”.

He is currently a Highland Council for Fort William and Ardnamurchan – a seat fast becoming a breeding ground for LibDem parliamentarians as it was previously held by Angus MacDonald.

So I asked how has his experience as a councillor shaped his political thinking?

He said: “My time as a councillor has taught me that successive Scottish governments have continued to centralise services, it's a power grab, and as a result, the Highlands have lost.

“That they've lost out because decisions are made down in Holyrood that I think should be made here in Inverness as part of Highland Council and actually out in our communities, whether that's in Dingwall, Portree or Fort William.

“And with that centralisation we've seen too much ring fencing by the government for their pet projects, however well meaning, when actually I think that money would be better spent here on the ground locally rather than decided in Hollywood.

“It's a structural weakness. And I probably built a reputation for railing against Inverness and it's not the Inverness councillors, it's a criticism of the system where you have this nucleus or critical mass, which means that places like even the Black Isle lose out as a result.

“I also hope that I've built a reputation as being someone that talks about community and is rooted in the community and who campaigns for the community and I think that's why I joined politics and have been involved in politics for such a long time”.

How do you see the election playing out given that both you and Kate Forbes are both seen as centrists, albeit you were once a Tory and she is often accused of being a Tory by her own side?

“I think you're right, we're both centrists,” he said. “I feel sorry for Kate in some ways because she's stuck in a party that views her with suspicion and I know there are many things that we would agree on.

“But she's in a party because she believes in Scotland having Independence, whereas actually, I think she's in the wrong party as a result.

“I think it is wonderful that we live in a democracy where people's political opinions can involve and change, because if we didn't live in that democracy and everyone was stuck with the same party all the time, we'd be living in a dictatorship or a one-party statement”

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