The Reform UK figurehead spoke to the biggest Reform UK public meeting held in Scotland to date, however avoided engaging with local journalists afterwards. Instead, newly defected peer the former Conservative donor was left to field questions on claims of discriminatory behaviour and antisemitism linked to the party leader.
A High-Profile Defection
The leader presented the ex-Tory lord and millionaire donor during a sold-out rally of about 700 supporters in a hotel venue near Falkirk. Offord, who served as a junior minister for Scotland under the last government and was until recently treasurer of the Scottish Conservatives, stated his plan to give up his peerage in order to become a candidate for the party in next May’s Holyrood elections.
Farage said he was “delighted” to welcome the new member. He described the switch as “a brave and historic act”.
Dodging the Press
The Reform leader addressed the rally following a difficult period which saw him launch a fierce criticism of the broadcaster for questioning him regarding a report into alleged racist and remarks from his teenage years. But, Farage dodged a planned media briefing post-rally.
Questioned why Farage was not available to answer mounting allegations about his past behaviour, Offord said: “You’ll need to ask him that question.”
Challenged about if he thought Farage should apologise for the comments he is said to have made about Jewish students, he stated: “That is a matter for him to deliberate on with his team.”
Insisting on Fitness
The peer maintained that Farage was “ethically suitable” to be prime minister and rejected claims of dog-whistle politics. While addressing supporters, the leader had reiterated on his remarks about pupils in Glasgow who are not native English speakers by posing the question to the crowd: “Who authorised the complete transformation of Glasgow's demographics?”
Although the first minister, John Swinney condemned Farage’s original remarks as “discriminatory”, and the Labour leader labeled them “harmful and polarising”, Offord maintained that his new leader was “highlighting a factual issue that people are talking about on the doorstep”.
A Party on the Rise
The rally, attended by an lively and passionate audience of largely male, white and middle-aged supporters who bought tickets for the event, showcases the party’s growing confidence ahead of the Scottish vote.
While the SNP continues to lead in the polls, the party has gained significant ground in the past year, achieving a quarter of the vote in a recent parliamentary by-election. Following Scottish Labour's decline, Reform has regularly pushed it into third place in recent months, polling up to 22%.
Announcing that Reform UK membership in Scotland had increased fourfold over the last twelve months to 12,000 members, the party chair, David Bull said he believed it could win around twenty parliamentary seats in May, putting the party in “a powerful situation” at Holyrood.
Campaign Rhetoric
Thomas Kerr, one of Reform’s 19 Scottish councillors, elicited loud cheers as he referred to the leader as “the future PM of the UK”. He told supporters to “prepare for a fight” as we take on the political establishment”, cautioning that “the coming campaign will be difficult”.
Despite not yet publishing any Scotland-specific policies, speakers from the north-east vowed the party would “confront climate activists and those profiting from green policies”.
The leader personally underlined his delight at the party’s emergence as a force in the political scene in Scotland in the last year, admitting to the audience that he was once told he “couldn't fill a small venue”.
Protests Nearby
Meanwhile, a few miles west in Falkirk town centre, demonstrators with opposing views assembled for what have become regular weekly confrontations near a hotel used to accommodate asylum seekers.
A group coordinating protests said it was galvanised by a serious local crime. In an interview, First Minister John Swinney cautioned that the tactic of the far-right is to apportion the blame … to asylum seekers or migrants and I think that is the source of a harmful narrative”.
He also made a clear distinction extremist opinions and people with “legitimate points” about strain on public services or neighbourhood security.
