"MY 11-year-old daughter bought me a sticker at Christmas saying, ‘I bought this before Elon went crazy’,” Alex Cole-Hamilton laughed as we sat down to talk about his former Tesla.
The Scottish Liberal Democrat leader sold his electric car three weeks later, with Elon Musk’s Nazis salute being the trigger for the decision.
“He did the Hitler salute at the inauguration, and I thought ‘I can't consciously drive this anymore’. It’s not virtue signalling; it's just a general disgust at it. Every time I had to drive somewhere I was feeling dirty.”
Cole-Hamilton was an early seller, with only four for sale within 100 miles of where he lives. Now there’s 75 on the market.
Musk’s leadership of the newly created advisory body the US department for government efficiency, or Doge, has been widely criticised, as it had overseen widespread cuts to the US government.
This, alongside his increasingly controversial political views, has sparked protests at Tesla dealerships around the world, and pledges from many to boycott the firm.
The MSP bought the car in 2019, when Musk “was a different person”.
“Most people hadn't really heard of him,” Cole-Hamilton explained. “He certainly wasn't involved in politics, wasn't involved in Twitter, and was seemingly doing some pretty cool things with battery technology and electric vehicles, so, it seemed on the right side of history when it came to the climate emergency.
“So, there wasn't any political thought about it. It was like thinking ‘what cereal do you buy?’ Politics doesn't come into it.”
But now, things have changed. More and more people are boycotting Tesla, Starlink, Twitter/X, and a whole range of other products aligned with the Boycott and Divestment Movement (BDS).
“What Trump and Musk make me feel goes far beyond just changing little things about my daily living,” Cole-Hamilton added.
“A line has clearly been drawn right now and we're seeing this baffling, horrendous tearing up of the older order of things as we knew it.
“The executive orders, the actions of the Department of Government Efficiency or whatever it's called, that Musk has presided over it, offend me on a daily basis.
“We should all be offended by all of it because it's attacking minorities.
“It’s attacking inclusivity, diversity. It’s why I joined a convoy of five ambulances at Easter to take them to the armed forces of Ukraine, because I think we're on the verge of a historic betrayal of Ukraine by America.”
“People might say, well, there's political views that Ford have had over centuries but it's not the same. I took a decision from me. It’s up to other people to make.
Laughing, he added: “I’m not an evangelist when it comes to getting rid of Teslas. I’m not going to be pointing and booing at Teslas as they go past.
“It's just what people's own conscience allows for them.
The Scottish Government continues to use Tesla and Starlink despite Musk’s controversial views.
First Minister John Swinney previously addressed question over the continued use, stating: “We've got to operate within the framework of the law, which will then govern many of any decisions that we take in relation to Starlink or Tesla.
“We've got to separate that from whatever we think about some of the conduct, stances, attitudes, and points put forward by Elon Musk.”
Cole-Hamilton largely agrees, saying: “We need to be very careful about where we are in terms of our national relationship with America because so much of our industry depends on American sales and tariff-free access to the American economy.
“I think if we were to take national decisions about using American firms based on politics, that becomes problematic, and that could lead to reciprocal measures in America.
However, that doesn't mean “Scotland should just roll over and let Trump tickle our tummies,” he said.
Cole-Hamilton’s “number one priority” is to keep America in the war in Ukraine and urged fellow politicians not to “make unnecessary shows of boycotts or anything like that on a national stage”.
“I think it's fine for politicians to take personal conscience-based decisions about what they're comfortable doing. But what's happening on a national basis is a completely different ball game.”
Going into the Holyrood election, the Scottish LibDems will be looking to take inspiration from Mark Carney (above), the winning Liberal candidate in Canada’s recent election.
A key component of his winning campaign was how his party would be the ones being tough on Trump.
Cole-Hamilton, whose mother is a Canadian, said: “There is an approach to Trump that can hopefully chart a way to a respectful, mutually beneficial relationship with America, and we'll stand up to him.
“I think Carney's onto a winner there. I wish Keir Starmer showed more of that backbone.
“That doesn't mean rescinding royal visits or unnecessarily provoking a trade war, but we have to be ready to stand by our business interests and we also have to be ready to stand by the fighting men and women of Ukraine.”
