Unfortunately, I had to miss Friday at Scottish Conference for family reasons.

As I arrived in Inverness in the afternoon, my phone started going wild and I realised that Jamie Greene MSP had joined us. His arrival brings our MSPs to five and means that we can now be an official group in the Parliament. This will give us more committee places and speaking time. Willie Rennie will be joining the Corporate Body as our official business manager.

Watch that moment here. Alex Cole-Hamilton introduced him and clearly enjoyed himself doing so.

The most exciting day at Conference in ages and I’m not there. I was very happy to have Jamie in the party, but had major FOMO.

However, I did get to meet him at the dinner that evening. Alistair Carmichael took him round all the tables, telling him that I was  “mad, bad and dangerous to know.” Jamie said he was already aware of Lib Dem Voice and said he would write for us.

It’s quite an experience joining another party and I hope that Jamie felt the genuine warmth in the room. It’s always slightly worrying when someone new is introduced to the Lib Dem family in all its glory. It’s a bit like when my niece’s partners met the Lindsays for the first time. We are an incredible bunch of people, but, my goodness, en masse we can be a lot. We can be a bit overwhelming until you get used to us. Lib Dems in the wild can be the same. Jamie coped admirably, though.

Yesterday, he wrote in the Guardian about his decision to leave the Conservatives and join us.

The party in which I once found a home has been reduced to Reform-lite. Its agenda is Trumpesque in style and substance. In my resignation letter to the party leader, I warned that “we now run the very serious and immediate risk of becoming once again the party of social division and morality wars”.

When the news broke of my departure, I received an email from a Tory supporter that read: “With your perverse views you won’t be missed, good riddance.”

Contrast with his experience of us:

I joined the Scottish Liberal Democrats the day after resigning the Tory whip. They treat colleagues with respect and decency. They are upbeat and positive. I’ve felt more tolerance in three days than I have in the past three years. Their political values fall better in line with what Davidson sought to achieve with her version of the Tories: fiscally responsible but socially liberal. The centre is where most voters are at; it’s where I am at and – judging by the messages I’ve had these past few days – it’s where most decent Tories are at. Perhaps they just need a new home too?

Welcome to the party, Jamie and we look forward to hearing more from you

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings