🔗 Share this article Reform UK Leader Addresses Party's Biggest Gathering in Scotland Amid Controversy and High-Profile Switch Nigel Farage addressed the biggest Reform UK rally so far in Scotland, however avoided engaging with local journalists following the event. Instead, recently switched peer the former Conservative donor took on the task of field questions on allegations of racism and antisemitism linked to Farage. A High-Profile Defection The leader presented the former Conservative peer and millionaire donor at a sold-out rally of roughly seven hundred supporters at a hotel conference centre in central Scotland. Offord, who served as a Scotland Office minister in the previous administration and most recently served as treasurer of the Scottish Conservatives, announced his intention to give up his peerage in order to stand for Reform UK in next May’s Holyrood elections. Farage said he was “extremely pleased” to welcome the new member. He described the switch as “a brave and historic act”. Avoiding Media Scrutiny The Reform leader addressed the rally following a difficult period which saw him launch a fierce criticism of the broadcaster after they quizzed him about an investigation into claimed discriminatory and remarks as a youth. However, the leader avoided a planned media briefing post-rally. Questioned why Farage did not make himself available to answer mounting allegations about his past behaviour, Offord said: “You’ll need to ask him that question.” Pressed on whether he believed an apology was necessary 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 The peer maintained that Farage was “ethically suitable” to be the country's leader and rejected claims of coded political messaging. While addressing supporters, the leader had reiterated on his remarks about the number of Glasgow schoolchildren who are not native English speakers by posing the question to the crowd: “Who authorised the complete transformation of Glasgow's demographics?” While the first minister, John Swinney condemned the initial comments as “discriminatory”, and the Labour leader labeled them “harmful and polarising”, Offord maintained that his new leader was “highlighting a factual issue that “voters are discussing”. A Party on the Rise The event, filled with an lively and passionate audience of largely male, white and middle-aged supporters who each paid £6 to attend, highlights the party’s growing confidence ahead of the Scottish vote. While the Scottish National Party remains ahead, the party has gained significant ground in the past year, 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 lately, polling up to 22%. Declaring that Reform UK membership in Scotland had quadrupled over the last twelve months to a running total of 12,000, 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, elicited loud cheers as he described Farage as “the future PM of the UK”. He told supporters to “prepare for a fight” as we take on the political establishment”, warning that “the next five months will be tough”. Although the party has yet to produce any Scotland-specific policies, representatives vowed the party would “take on the green blob and the net-zero grifters”. Farage himself expressed his pleasure at Reform's rise as a significant player 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 As the event was taking place, a few miles west in the heart of Falkirk, demonstrators with opposing views assembled for what have become regular weekly confrontations outside a local hotel where asylum seekers are now housed. The organisers of the demonstrations stated they were motivated by a criminal case involving an asylum seeker. In an interview, Scotland's leader cautioned that “what the far right do is to apportion the blame … 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 “valid concerns” about pressure on local services or community safety.