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Nigel Farage addressed the biggest Reform UK rally so far in Scotland, however declined to speak with local journalists afterwards. In his place, newly defected peer Malcolm Offord was left to field questions on claims of discriminatory behaviour and antisemitism linked to Farage.

A High-Profile Defection

Farage introduced the ex-Tory lord and millionaire donor at a sold-out rally of about 700 attendees at a hotel conference centre near Falkirk. The businessman, who worked as a Scotland Office minister in the previous administration and most recently served as the Scottish Tory party's chief financial officer, stated his plan to relinquish his seat in the Lords in order to become a candidate for the party in next May’s Holyrood elections.

Farage said he was “delighted” to welcome Offord to the party. He called the peer’s defection 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 about an investigation into alleged racist and remarks from his teenage years. However, Farage dodged a planned media briefing after Saturday’s event.

When asked why Farage 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 Farage should apologise for the comments he is said to have made about Jewish students, Offord said: “I think that’s something he’ll need to consider with his own advisers.”

Insisting on Fitness

Offord insisted that Farage was “ethically suitable” to be prime minister and rejected claims of coded political messaging. While addressing supporters, Farage had doubled down on previous comments about pupils in Glasgow who speak English as a second language by asking the rally: “Who voted for the wholesale change of the population of Glasgow?”

Although the first minister, John Swinney criticised the initial comments as “racist”, and the Labour leader called them “toxic and divisive”, Offord maintained that Farage was “highlighting a factual issue that “voters are discussing”.

A Party on the Rise

The event, 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 made substantial progress in the past year, securing 26% of the vote in its first Holyrood byelection test. After the collapse in support for Scottish Labour, the party has often relegated it to third lately, with support reaching over a fifth.

Declaring that Reform UK membership in Scotland had increased fourfold in the past year to a running total of 12,000, the party chair, David Bull stated his belief it could win around twenty parliamentary seats in May, putting the party in “a very strong position” in the Scottish Parliament.

Fighting Talk

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 instructed the crowd to “prepare for a fight” 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, speakers from the north-east pledged Reform would “confront climate activists and those profiting from green policies”.

Farage himself 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 “wouldn’t get 20 people in a room”.

Protests Nearby

As the event was taking place, a few miles west in Falkirk town centre, anti-immigration and anti-racist protesters assembled for a now-regular weekly standoff outside a local hotel where asylum seekers are now housed.

The organisers of the demonstrations stated they were motivated by a serious local crime. In an interview, First Minister John Swinney warned that “what the far right do is to assign responsibility … to asylum seekers or migrants and I think that is the source of a harmful narrative”.

However, he differentiated extremist opinions and people with “legitimate points” about pressure on local services or neighbourhood security.