I want to be Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats because I believe I have the ability to drive the Party forward by making Liberal Democrat values and policies relevant to the people of Scotland.

At present I believe our message has become blurred and lacks a distinctive Liberal Democrat edge. We lack a political narrative that brings clarity and cohesion to our political projection.

I want us to concentrate on three themes:-

We must become regarded as the Party that stands up for individual freedom - not only human rights and civil liberties but also freedom from poor education, poor health, poverty and deprivation.

We must be leaders in developing sustainable communities – promoting economic development to provide job opportunities whilst protecting the environment for the next generation

We must be champions of a fairer society – bearing down on intolerance, discrimination, health inequalities, deprivation, a fear of crime and manifest injustice.

I want new policies to be developed and existing policies to be refined to deliver on these themes and for each policy to be outcome based and required to meet a relevance test to the individual citizen

That is a brief summary of my Leadership campaign positioning.

* Ross Finnie is the Liberal Democrat MSP for the West of Scotland, Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing, and Vice-Convener of the Scottish Parliament Health and Sport Committee.

Editor’s note: Liberal Democrat Voice is, as with all internal party elections, remaining neutral in its editorial line, and seeking to ensure balanced coverage. All three candidates have been offered a slot to write about why they wish to lead the Scottish Lib Dems: Mike Rumbles’ article was published here in July. Supporters of the candidates are encouraged to submit their views to Lib Dem Voice either as an article - find out how here - or comments; but the editor will seek to ensure fair representation for all candidates.