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Nigel Farage spoke to the largest Reform UK rally held in Scotland to date, however declined to speak with local journalists following the event. In his place, newly defected member of the House of Lords Malcolm Offord took on the task of responding to queries on allegations of racism and anti-Jewish sentiment surrounding the party leader.

Welcoming a New Recruit

Farage introduced the former Conservative peer and millionaire donor during a sold-out rally of about 700 supporters at a hotel conference centre near Falkirk. The businessman, who worked as a junior minister for Scotland in the previous administration and was until recently treasurer of the Scottish Conservatives, stated his plan to relinquish his seat in the Lords in order to stand 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

The Reform leader spoke to the crowd following a difficult period which included him delivering a fierce criticism of the broadcaster for questioning him regarding a report into alleged racist and antisemitic behaviour from his teenage years. However, the leader avoided the expected press huddle after Saturday’s event.

Questioned why his new party’s leader was not available to answer mounting allegations about his past behaviour, Offord said: “That is a question for him to answer.”

Challenged about whether he believed an apology was necessary for the comments he is said to have made towards Jewish pupils, Offord said: “That is a matter for him to deliberate on with his team.”

Insisting on Fitness

The peer maintained that Farage was “ethically suitable” to be the country's leader and rejected claims of coded political messaging. 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?”

Although Scotland's First Minister condemned Farage’s original remarks as “racist”, and the Labour leader called them “harmful and polarising”, the defector argued that his new leader was “drawing attention to a real concern” 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 the party’s growing confidence ahead of the Scottish vote.

Although the SNP continues to lead in the polls, Reform UK has gained significant ground recently, securing 26% 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 lately, with support reaching over a fifth.

Announcing that party membership north of the border had increased fourfold over the last twelve months to a running total of 12,000, the party chair, David Bull said he believed it could win around twenty parliamentary seats in May, putting the party in “a very strong position” at Holyrood.

Fighting Talk

Thomas Kerr, one of Reform’s 19 Scottish councillors, prompted a roar of approval as he referred to the leader as “Britain’s next prime minister”. He instructed the crowd to “man the barricades as we take on the political establishment”, cautioning that “the next five months will be tough”.

Although the party has yet to produce any Scotland-specific policies, representatives pledged Reform would “confront climate activists and those profiting from green policies”.

The leader personally underlined his delight at Reform's rise as a significant player in Scottish politics in the last year, admitting to the audience that he was once told he “wouldn’t get 20 people in a room”.

Local Context

As the event was taking place, not far away in the heart of Falkirk, 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 said it was galvanised by a serious local crime. In an interview, Scotland's leader warned that the tactic of the far-right is to apportion the blame … 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.