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Nigel Farage spoke to the largest Reform UK rally held in Scotland to date, but avoided engaging with local journalists following the event. In his place, recently switched peer the former Conservative donor took on the task of field questions on claims of discriminatory behaviour and antisemitism surrounding the party leader.

Welcoming a New Recruit

Farage introduced the former Conservative peer and millionaire donor during a packed event of about 700 attendees at a hotel conference centre in central Scotland. The businessman, who worked as a junior minister for Scotland in the previous administration and most recently served as treasurer of the Scottish Conservatives, stated his plan to relinquish his seat in the Lords in order to become a candidate for Reform UK in next May’s Holyrood elections.

Farage said he was “extremely pleased” to welcome Offord to the party. He described the switch as “a brave and historic act”.

Avoiding Media Scrutiny

Farage spoke to the crowd after a turbulent week which included him delivering a fierce criticism of the broadcaster for questioning him about an investigation into alleged racist and antisemitic behaviour from his teenage years. However, the leader avoided a planned media briefing after Saturday’s event.

When asked why Farage was not available to answer mounting allegations about his past behaviour, the new recruit responded: “You’ll need to ask him that question.”

Pressed on whether he believed Farage should apologise for his alleged remarks towards Jewish pupils, Offord said: “That is a matter for him to deliberate on with his team.”

Insisting on Fitness

Offord insisted that the leader is “ethically suitable” to be prime minister and rejected claims of dog-whistle politics. During his speech, the leader had reiterated on previous comments about the number of Glasgow schoolchildren who speak English as a second language by posing the question to the crowd: “Who voted for the wholesale change of the population of Glasgow?”

While Scotland's First Minister criticised the initial comments as “racist”, and Keir Starmer labeled them “toxic and divisive”, 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 event, filled with an lively and passionate audience of largely male, white and middle-aged supporters who bought tickets for the event, showcases Reform's increasing self-assurance ahead of the Scottish vote.

While the SNP continues to lead in the polls, Reform UK has gained significant ground in the past year, achieving a quarter of the vote in its first Holyrood byelection test. After the collapse in support for Scottish Labour, Reform has regularly pushed it into third place in recent months, with support reaching over a fifth.

Announcing that Reform UK membership in Scotland had increased fourfold in the past year to 12,000 members, the party chair, David Bull stated his belief it could gain up to 20 MSPs in May, which would place Reform in “a powerful situation” in the Scottish Parliament.

Fighting Talk

Thomas Kerr, a local representative for the party, 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 coming campaign will be difficult”.

Although the party has yet to produce any Scotland-specific policies, speakers from the north-east pledged Reform would “take on the green blob and the net-zero grifters”.

The leader personally expressed his pleasure at the party’s emergence as a force in Scottish politics in the last year, admitting to the audience that he was once told he “couldn't fill a small venue”.

Protests Nearby

As the event was taking place, not far away 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.

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 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 “legitimate points” about pressure on local services or neighbourhood security.