Scottish Tory Lord Defects to Reform UK: Everything you need to know about the Reform UK rally in Falkirk

Lord Offord says he will resign his peerage and stand as a Reform UK candidate for the Holyrood election in May.

Nigel Farage unveiled the defection of a Conservative peer at Reform rally at the Macdonald Inchyra hotel in Falkirk on Saturday.

Lord Malcolm Offord, a Greenock-born politician and financier was the serving Treasurer of the Scottish Tories and served on the Lords front bench from 2021 until 2024. He was Under-Secretary of State for Scotland and campaigned against Scottish independence in the 2014 independence referendum. He said he would resign his peerage and become Reform MSP candidate for upcoming Scottish Parliament election in May.

Announcing his defection, Lord Offord accused the Conservatives of "giving up" on Scotland. He called the party "parochial, not political" and described them as a "party without a vision".

"I'm concerned for Scottish politics, very concerned about what happens in Scotland," he said.

"And that's why I'm leaving the Scottish Conservative Party, because the Scottish Conservative Party, I believe, have given up on Scotland and, ladies and gentlemen, I can't do that."

He added:

"The first objective is to remove this rotten SNP government after 18 years, and the second is to present a positive vision for Scotland inside the UK, to restore Scotland to being a prosperous, proud, healthy and happy country."

Malcom ended his speech with a quote from a phone call with Kemi Badenoch about his defection. He said to her: “It’s nothing personal, I put country over party”.

Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage said he was "delighted" to welcome Lord Offord to Reform, describing his defection as "a brave and historic act".

Farage arrived in Falkirk in the midst of reports of alleged racist comments that he made when he was at school. Image credit: Emilie Stewart (ENRG Debrief)

His speech also included accusations that SNP is prioritizing illegal migrants for housing over families who “have worked and lived and paid into the system for generations”.

Farage also blamed migrants from asylum seekers’ hotel in Falkirk, for three serious sexual assaults in the past weeks.

He said:

“If you allow young men who come from countries in which women aren’t even classed as second-class citizens, their attitude to women is completely different to ours, so the social effects of this are appalling.”

He also blamed atheist politicians for energy policies forcing Grangemouth oil refinery to close, as they turned their back on “Judeo-Christian” roots in the “vain pursuit of net zero, believing somehow they will save the planet”.

Defection of Malcolm Offord was alco accompanied by a speech from former Conservative MSP Graham Simpson, who joined Reform in August, leaving the Scottish Conservatives.

The only Reform UK MSP announced a series of policies ahead of  Holyrood campaign. He promised that Reform would widen main roads, while merging and closing some of the 132 public bodies operating in Scotland, which he said would generate £1 billion of savings over five years. Simpson also pledged the party would focus on supporting colleges and increasing housebuilding.

The Scottish Conservatives argue that a vote for Reform UK is a vote for the SNP, as Reform divide the unionist vote. Other political opponents to Reform such as the SNP and Labour argue that Reform seek to divide and polarise, damaging society, politics and discourse.

The Edinburgh Economist co-editor, Bohdan Tymoshchuk asked Reform UK councillor Jamie McGuire about his party’s possible conference in Edinburgh ahead of May’s election and their expectations on support amongst young people:

In an attempt to attract more voters, Reform chairman Dr David Bull announced the launch of tartan merchandise, claiming that this is “important step in enshrining Reform’s Scottish identity”, promising members “scarves, hats, and kilts”.