🔗 Share this article Reform UK Leader Speaks at Movement's Biggest Scottish Rally Following Controversy and Defection The Reform UK figurehead addressed the biggest the party's rally so far in Scotland, but avoided engaging with the press corps following the event. In his place, recently switched peer the former Conservative donor was left to responding to queries on allegations of racism and antisemitism linked to the party leader. A High-Profile Defection The leader presented the ex-Tory lord and wealthy businessman at a packed event of about 700 attendees in a hotel venue near Falkirk. The businessman, who worked as a Scotland Office minister under the last government and most recently served as the Scottish Tory party's chief financial officer, stated his plan to give up his peerage in order to stand for the party in next May’s Holyrood elections. The leader stated he was “extremely pleased” to greet Offord to the party. He described the switch as “a courageous and significant move”. Dodging the Press Farage spoke to the crowd after a turbulent week which saw him launch a tirade against the BBC after they quizzed him about an investigation into claimed discriminatory and remarks from his teenage years. But, Farage dodged the expected press huddle post-rally. When asked why his new party’s leader did not make himself available to answer mounting allegations concerning his history, the new recruit responded: “You’ll need to ask him that question.” Pressed on whether he believed Farage should apologise for the comments he is said to have made about Jewish students, he stated: “I think that’s something he’ll need to consider with his own advisers.” Insisting on Fitness Offord insisted that Farage was “morally fit” to be the country's leader and rejected claims of dog-whistle politics. During his speech, the leader had reiterated on his remarks about pupils in Glasgow who are not native English speakers by asking the rally: “Who authorised the complete transformation of Glasgow's demographics?” Although Scotland's First Minister condemned the initial comments as “racist”, and Keir Starmer labeled them “toxic and divisive”, the defector argued that his new leader was “drawing attention to a real concern” that “voters are discussing”. A Party on the Rise The rally, filled with an energetic and enthused crowd of largely male, white and middle-aged supporters who each paid £6 to attend, showcases Reform's increasing self-assurance before next May’s elections. Although the SNP continues to lead in the polls, Reform UK has gained significant ground recently, achieving a quarter of the vote in a recent parliamentary by-election. After the collapse in support for Scottish Labour, 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 a running total of 12,000, a senior party official stated his belief it could win around twenty parliamentary seats in May, putting the party in “a very strong position” at Holyrood. Fighting Talk Thomas Kerr, a local representative for the party, elicited loud cheers as he described Farage as “the future PM of the UK”. He told supporters to “man the barricades as we “challenge the ruling class”, cautioning that “the next five months will be tough”. Although the party has yet to produce any Scotland-specific policies, representatives pledged Reform would “take on the green blob and the net-zero grifters”. Farage himself expressed his pleasure at the party’s emergence as a force in the political scene in Scotland over the past 12 months, admitting to the audience that he was once told he “wouldn’t get 20 people in a room”. Protests Nearby Meanwhile, not far away in the heart of Falkirk, demonstrators with opposing views were gathering for what have become regular weekly confrontations outside a local 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 warned that “what the far right do is to apportion the blame … to new arrivals and I think that is the root of the poison”. However, he differentiated between those who hold far-right views and people with “valid concerns” about strain on public services or community safety.