Hi, I’m Liss.

Full statement

I’m your Scottish Liberal Democrat candidate for Edinburgh North Eastern and Leith.

I used to be a teacher. I’m now the CEO of a charity that supports homeless young people. So when I talk about education, or housing, or what happens when public services fail, I’m not speaking theoretically.

Each candidate has been asked to share a personal detail to help you get to know us outside of politics. I play guitar, I read, I run, I play chess, I draw, I rock climb, and most recently I’ve taken up kayaking.

Oh — and I have ADHD.

I got into politics because from a young age I’ve always been passionate about chapping strangers’ doors and asking who they’re voting for. On a more serious note: a few years ago, something horrific happened in my community. I was a victim of a crime, and it was my local Liberal Democrat councillors who showed up - not with leaflets, just with help. That changed me. Politics at its best isn’t about grand speeches, it’s about being in someone’s corner when they need it most.

Kemi Badenoch once said Liberal Democrats are good at fixing their church roof and liked by their community. She meant it as a criticism. I’ll take it as a job description.
Because yes, we fix things and we show up. But we’re also proudly internationalist - because it’s only through working together internationally that we’re safe from the greatest threats we face, whether that’s military aggression or the climate emergency. You can fix your church roof and still understand the world doesn’t stop at your council ward boundary.

I fell in love with Edinburgh at thirteen, my first time at the Fringe. During lockdown I moved to Leith and for the first time in my life I felt properly at home. I grew up moving constantly because of my family’s financial struggles. I never had a stable childhood bedroom. Finding somewhere that felt like home mattered more than I can easily explain.

I left for three years when my partner’s job took us to England. But we’ve come back permanently because this is where she’s from, where her family is, and where we belong. When I talk about the housing crisis or what it means for a community to hold together, I’m not reading from a briefing. I know what it feels like to not have stability. And I know what it feels like to find it.
So when I ask for your vote, it’s not as a politician making promises. It’s as someone who found home here, who wants to fight for it, and who knows what’s at stake when a community is let down.

A vote for the Scottish Liberal Democrats is a vote for change with fairness at its heart. Because Edinburgh North Eastern and Leith deserves better than 786,000 Scots on NHS waiting lists, teachers on zero-hours contracts, and cold homes when we have renewable energy on our doorstep.

You have two votes. Your second — on the peach ballot — is your regional vote. Every vote for the Scottish Liberal Democrats on that peach ballot delivers change with fairness at its heart.

The above statement was transcribed from a Broughton Spurtle hustings on 16th April 2026.