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The Reform UK figurehead addressed the biggest the party's rally so far in Scotland, however declined to speak with the press corps afterwards. In his place, recently switched peer the former Conservative donor took on the task of responding to queries on claims of discriminatory behaviour and antisemitism surrounding the party leader.

A High-Profile Defection

The leader presented the former Conservative peer and millionaire donor during a packed event of about 700 supporters in a hotel venue near Falkirk. Offord, who served as a Scotland Office minister in the previous administration and most recently served as the Scottish Tory party's chief financial officer, announced his intention to relinquish his seat in the Lords in order to become a candidate for Reform UK in the upcoming Scottish parliament vote.

Farage said he was “extremely pleased” to welcome Offord to the party. He called the peer’s defection as “a brave and historic act”.

Avoiding Media Scrutiny

The Reform leader spoke to the crowd after a turbulent week which included him delivering a tirade against the BBC after they quizzed him regarding a report into claimed discriminatory and antisemitic behaviour 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 concerning his history, the new recruit responded: “You’ll need to ask him that question.”

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

Insisting on Fitness

The peer maintained that Farage was “morally fit” to be prime minister and denied he was employing coded political messaging. While addressing supporters, Farage had doubled down 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 the initial comments as “discriminatory”, and Keir Starmer labeled them “toxic and divisive”, Offord maintained that Farage was “drawing attention to a real concern” that people are talking about on the doorstep”.

A Party on the Rise

The rally, attended by an lively and passionate audience of largely male, white and middle-aged supporters who bought tickets for the event, highlights 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 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 Reform UK membership in Scotland had quadrupled over the last twelve months to a running total of 12,000, the party chair, David Bull stated his belief it could gain up to 20 MSPs in May, putting the party in “a powerful situation” at Holyrood.

Fighting Talk

A Reform councillor, a local representative for the party, elicited loud cheers as he referred to the leader as “Britain’s next prime minister”. He instructed the crowd 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 vowed the party 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 the political scene in Scotland over the past 12 months, confessing to supporters that in previous years he had been warned he “wouldn’t get 20 people in a room”.

Protests Nearby

Meanwhile, not far away in the heart of Falkirk, anti-immigration and anti-racist protesters assembled for a now-regular weekly standoff near a hotel used to accommodate asylum seekers.

The organisers of the demonstrations stated they were motivated by a serious local crime. Speaking previously, First Minister John Swinney warned that the tactic of the far-right is to apportion the blame … to new arrivals and I think that is the root of the poison”.

He also made a clear distinction between those who hold far-right views and people with “valid concerns” about strain on public services or neighbourhood security.