The Reform UK figurehead spoke to the largest Reform UK rally so far in Scotland, however declined to speak with the press corps following the event. Instead, recently switched peer the former Conservative donor took on the task of field questions on allegations of racism and anti-Jewish sentiment linked to Farage.
Welcoming a New Recruit
Farage introduced the ex-Tory lord and millionaire donor at a sold-out rally of about 700 supporters in a hotel venue in central Scotland. Offord, who served as a junior minister for Scotland under the last government and most recently served as treasurer of the Scottish Conservatives, stated his plan to give up his peerage in order to become a candidate for the party in next May’s Holyrood elections.
The leader stated he was “extremely pleased” to welcome the new member. He described the switch 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 regarding a report into claimed discriminatory and remarks as a youth. But, the leader avoided the expected press huddle post-rally.
Questioned why his new party’s leader was not available to address growing claims about his past behaviour, Offord said: “That is a question for him to answer.”
Challenged about if he thought an apology was necessary for his alleged remarks towards Jewish pupils, he stated: “That is a matter for him to deliberate on with his team.”
Insisting on Fitness
Offord insisted that the leader is “morally fit” to be prime minister and rejected claims of coded political messaging. During his speech, the leader had reiterated on previous comments about the number of Glasgow schoolchildren who are not native English speakers by asking the rally: “Who voted for the wholesale change of the population of Glasgow?”
While the first minister, John Swinney criticised Farage’s original remarks as “discriminatory”, and Keir Starmer labeled them “harmful and polarising”, the defector argued that Farage was “highlighting a factual issue that people are talking about on the doorstep”.
A Party on the Rise
The event, attended by an lively and passionate audience of predominantly older, white male backers who each paid £6 to attend, highlights the party’s growing confidence before next May’s elections.
Although the SNP continues to lead in the polls, the party has gained significant ground recently, securing 26% of the vote in its first Holyrood byelection test. Following Scottish Labour's decline, Reform has regularly pushed it into third place in recent months, polling up to 22%.
Declaring that party membership north of the border had increased fourfold in the past year to 12,000 members, a senior party official said he believed it could win around twenty parliamentary seats in May, which would place Reform in “a powerful situation” in the Scottish Parliament.
Campaign Rhetoric
Thomas Kerr, one of Reform’s 19 Scottish councillors, elicited loud cheers as he described Farage as “Britain’s next prime minister”. 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, representatives vowed the party would “confront climate activists and those profiting from green policies”.
Farage himself underlined his delight 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
As the event was taking place, not far away in the heart of Falkirk, demonstrators with opposing views were gathering for what have become regular weekly confrontations near a hotel where asylum seekers are now housed.
A group coordinating protests said it was galvanised by a criminal case involving an asylum seeker. In an interview, First Minister John Swinney warned that “what the far right do is to apportion the blame … to asylum seekers or migrants and I think that is the root of the poison”.
However, he differentiated extremist opinions and people with “valid concerns” about pressure on local services or community safety.
