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The Reform UK figurehead addressed the biggest Reform UK rally held in Scotland to date, but declined to speak with local journalists following the event. In his place, recently switched member of the House of Lords the former Conservative donor was left to field questions on allegations of racism and anti-Jewish sentiment linked to the party leader.

A High-Profile Defection

Farage introduced the former Conservative peer and wealthy businessman at a packed event of about 700 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.

The leader stated he was “extremely pleased” to greet the new member. He called the peer’s defection as “a brave and historic act”.

Dodging the Press

The Reform leader addressed the rally following a difficult period which included him delivering a fierce criticism of the broadcaster for questioning him about an investigation into alleged racist and antisemitic behaviour as a youth. But, Farage dodged the expected press huddle post-rally.

When asked why his new party’s leader was not available to address growing claims concerning his history, Offord said: “That is a question for him to answer.”

Pressed on whether he believed an apology was necessary for his alleged remarks towards Jewish pupils, Offord said: “I think that’s something he’ll need to consider with his own advisers.”

Defending the Leader

The peer maintained that the leader is “morally fit” to be the country's leader and rejected claims of coded political messaging. During his speech, Farage had doubled down 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?”

Although the first minister, John Swinney criticised Farage’s original remarks as “discriminatory”, and the Labour leader called them “harmful and polarising”, the defector argued that Farage was “highlighting a factual issue that “voters are discussing”.

Growing Confidence

The rally, attended by an lively and passionate audience of predominantly older, white male backers who bought tickets for the event, showcases Reform's increasing self-assurance before next May’s elections.

While the SNP continues to lead in the polls, the party 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, the party has often relegated it to third in recent months, with support reaching over a fifth.

Announcing that party membership north of the border had increased fourfold in the past year to 12,000 members, the party chair, David Bull stated his belief it could win around twenty parliamentary seats in May, which would place Reform in “a very strong position” in the Scottish Parliament.

Campaign Rhetoric

A Reform councillor, 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”, 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 “confront climate activists and those profiting from green policies”.

Farage himself expressed his pleasure at Reform's rise as a significant player in the political scene in Scotland over the past 12 months, confessing to supporters that he was once told he “couldn't fill a small venue”.

Protests Nearby

Meanwhile, a few miles west in Falkirk town centre, demonstrators with opposing views assembled for what have become regular weekly confrontations near a hotel used to accommodate asylum seekers.

The organisers of the demonstrations stated they were motivated by a serious local crime. Speaking previously, Scotland's leader warned 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”.

He also made a clear distinction extremist opinions and people with “valid concerns” about pressure on local services or neighbourhood security.