🔗 Share this article

Nigel Farage addressed the largest Reform UK rally so far in Scotland, however declined to speak with local journalists following the event. Instead, newly defected member of the House of Lords Malcolm Offord was left to responding to queries on allegations of racism and antisemitism surrounding the party leader.

A High-Profile Defection

Farage introduced the ex-Tory lord and wealthy businessman at a sold-out rally of roughly seven hundred supporters at a hotel conference centre in central Scotland. 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 greet Offord to the party. He described the switch as “a courageous and significant move”.

Avoiding Media Scrutiny

Farage spoke to the crowd after a turbulent week which included him delivering a fierce criticism of the broadcaster after they quizzed him regarding a report into alleged racist and remarks as a youth. But, the leader avoided a planned media briefing post-rally.

Questioned why his new party’s leader did not make himself available to answer mounting allegations concerning his history, Offord said: “That is a question for him to answer.”

Pressed on if he thought an apology was necessary for the comments he is said to have made towards Jewish pupils, he stated: “I think that’s something he’ll need to consider with his own advisers.”

Defending the Leader

The peer maintained that Farage was “ethically suitable” to be prime minister and rejected claims of dog-whistle politics. During his speech, Farage had doubled down on his remarks about pupils in Glasgow who speak English as a second language by posing the question to the crowd: “Who authorised the complete transformation of Glasgow's demographics?”

Although the first minister, John Swinney condemned the initial comments as “discriminatory”, and Keir Starmer labeled them “harmful and polarising”, Offord maintained that his new leader was “drawing attention to a real concern” that people are talking about on the doorstep”.

Growing Confidence

The rally, filled with an energetic and enthused crowd of predominantly older, white male backers who bought tickets for the event, showcases the party’s growing confidence before next May’s elections.

Although the Scottish National Party remains ahead, Reform UK has made substantial progress 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 lately, polling up to 22%.

Declaring that party membership north of the border had quadrupled over the last twelve months to 12,000 members, a senior party official stated his belief it could gain up to 20 MSPs in May, putting the party in “a powerful situation” at Holyrood.

Campaign Rhetoric

Thomas Kerr, a local representative for the party, prompted a roar of approval as he referred to the leader as “the future PM of the UK”. He told supporters to “prepare for a fight” as we “challenge the ruling class”, warning that “the coming campaign will be difficult”.

Despite not yet publishing any Scotland-specific policies, speakers from the north-east pledged Reform would “confront climate activists and those profiting from green policies”.

The leader personally underlined his delight at Reform's rise as a significant player in the political scene in Scotland over the past 12 months, admitting to the audience that in previous years he had been warned he “couldn't fill a small venue”.

Protests Nearby

Meanwhile, not far away in Falkirk town centre, demonstrators with opposing views assembled for a now-regular weekly standoff near a hotel where asylum seekers are now housed.

The organisers of the demonstrations said it was galvanised by a criminal case involving an asylum seeker. In an interview, First Minister John Swinney cautioned that the tactic of the far-right is to assign responsibility … to asylum seekers or migrants and I think that is the source of a harmful narrative”.

However, he differentiated between those who hold far-right views and people with “legitimate points” about strain on public services or community safety.