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The Reform UK figurehead spoke to the largest Reform UK rally so far in Scotland, however avoided engaging with local journalists following the event. In his place, recently switched peer Malcolm Offord took on the task of field questions on allegations of racism and anti-Jewish sentiment linked to Farage.

Welcoming a New Recruit

The leader presented the former Conservative peer and wealthy businessman during a sold-out rally of about 700 attendees at a hotel conference centre in central Scotland. Offord, who served as a junior minister for Scotland in the previous administration and most recently served as the Scottish Tory party's chief financial officer, announced his intention to give up his peerage in order to become a candidate for the party in next May’s Holyrood elections.

Farage said he was “extremely pleased” to greet Offord to the party. He called the peer’s defection as “a courageous and significant move”.

Dodging the Press

The Reform leader addressed the rally after a turbulent week which saw him launch a tirade against the BBC after they quizzed him regarding a report into alleged racist and antisemitic behaviour as a youth. However, Farage dodged the expected press huddle after Saturday’s event.

Questioned why Farage was not available to address growing claims concerning his history, the new recruit responded: “That is a question for him to answer.”

Challenged about if he thought Farage should apologise for his alleged remarks towards Jewish pupils, he stated: “I think that’s something he’ll need to consider with his own advisers.”

Defending the Leader

The peer maintained that Farage was “morally fit” to be prime minister and rejected claims of coded political messaging. While addressing supporters, the leader had reiterated on his remarks 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 Keir Starmer called them “toxic and divisive”, Offord maintained that Farage was “highlighting a factual issue that people are talking about on the doorstep”.

Growing Confidence

The event, attended by an lively and passionate audience of largely male, white and middle-aged supporters who bought tickets for the event, showcases the party’s growing confidence ahead of the Scottish vote.

Although the Scottish National Party remains ahead, the party has gained significant ground in the past year, achieving a quarter of the vote in a recent parliamentary by-election. Following Scottish Labour's decline, Reform has regularly pushed it into third place in recent months, with support reaching over a fifth.

Announcing that Reform UK membership in Scotland had quadrupled in the past year to 12,000 members, a senior party official 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 described Farage as “Britain’s next prime minister”. He told supporters to “prepare for a fight” as we take on the political establishment”, cautioning that “the coming campaign will be difficult”.

Although the party has yet to produce a distinct policy platform for Scotland, representatives pledged Reform would “confront climate activists and those profiting from green policies”.

Farage himself underlined his delight at Reform's rise as a significant player in Scottish politics over the past 12 months, confessing to supporters that he was once told he “couldn't fill a small venue”.

Local Context

Meanwhile, a few miles west in Falkirk town centre, anti-immigration and anti-racist protesters were gathering 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 criminal case involving an asylum seeker. In an interview, First Minister John Swinney cautioned 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”.

However, he differentiated extremist opinions and people with “legitimate points” about pressure on local services or neighbourhood security.