Willie Rennie is expected to be appointed as the new Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie is expected to be appointed as the new leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats later.
The politician is set to replace Tavish Scott in the role, despite having been elected as an MSP for the first time in the 5 May Holyrood election.
The Lib Dems lost 11 seats in the Holyrood election, down from 16 to 5, which saw the SNP win a majority.
Mr Rennie is not likely to face any leadership challengers when nominations close at noon.
The former MP and UK government adviser will have to re-build the party after Scottish voters decided to punish the Lib Dems for their role in the UK coalition government.
Willie Rennie burst onto the political scene when he won the safe Labour Westminster seat of Dunfermline and West Fife, in a 2006 by-election in Gordon Brown’s political backyard.
After failing to hold the seat at the general election, the former PR worker went on to a brief stint as an adviser in the Scotland Office.
Realising elected politics was more his thing, Mr Rennie set his sights on winning a seat at Holyrood, making it in as a Mid Scotland and Fife regional MSP.
The Fife-born politician is a former chief executive of the Scottish Liberal Democrats and served as the party’s chief of staff.
Mr Rennie, now an MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, said his party’s election performance was “bad” and is promising to rebuild trust and reconnect with voters.
He has also pledged to stand up against what he has called the “SNP bulldozer administration”.
The post of Scottish Lib Dem leader became vacant when Mr Scott, the MSP for Shetland, quit the post he had held since 2008.
The Lib Dems lost 25 deposits after failing to win 5% of the vote in some areas on election night.
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