Reform UK appoints Lord Offord as Scottish leader in election push

Shiva K Dhakal
National Press Corporation(NPC)
Unite Kingdom— Former Conservative minister Lord Offord has been named as Reform UK’s Scottish leader, as the party seeks to make a significant electoral breakthrough in Scotland at next year’s Scottish Parliament election.

The former Scottish Conservative treasurer was formally unveiled by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage at a party event in Fife. Lord Offord will lead the party’s campaign into the May Holyrood vote, after confirming he will step down from the House of Lords in order to stand for election.

Speaking after his appointment, Lord Offord described the contest as a “two-horse race” with the SNP and said Reform UK aimed to offer voters an alternative to what he described as Scotland’s political status quo.

He claimed the party now had more than 12,000 members in Scotland and said it had assembled a “really talented group of candidates” to contest the election.

Nigel Farage said around 100 Scottish Reform UK candidates had already undergone vetting and training in London. He added that the party was increasingly confident about its prospects north of the border.

“I think we can surprise ourselves with just how many votes we manage to garner in these elections,” Farage told reporters.

Farage also confirmed he had held discussions with former Conservative minister Robert Jenrick, who was recently sacked from the Conservative frontbench over allegations that he was planning to defect. However, Farage denied that any agreement had been reached regarding a move to Reform UK.

Lord Offord said the party would run a “positive” campaign in Scotland, after being questioned about a Reform UK social media advert featuring Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, which critics described as “blatantly racist”. He did not comment directly on the advert but stressed that Reform UK’s campaign would focus on policy rather than personal attacks.

Reform UK has yet to win seats at Holyrood but hopes that Lord Offord’s appointment will strengthen its profile as it seeks to expand beyond its traditional support base in England.