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Nigel Farage spoke to the biggest Reform UK rally held in Scotland to date, however declined to speak with local journalists afterwards. Instead, newly defected peer the former Conservative donor was left to responding to queries on allegations of racism and antisemitism linked to the party leader.

A High-Profile Defection

Farage introduced the ex-Tory lord and millionaire donor during a packed event of about 700 attendees in a hotel venue near Falkirk. The businessman, who worked 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 give up his peerage in order to stand for the party in next May’s Holyrood elections.

Farage said he was “extremely pleased” to greet Offord to the party. He described the switch as “a courageous and significant move”.

Dodging the Press

Farage addressed the rally after a turbulent week which saw him launch a fierce criticism of the broadcaster for questioning him regarding a report into claimed discriminatory 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 did not make himself available to address growing claims about his past behaviour, Offord said: “That is a question for him to answer.”

Pressed on whether he believed Farage should apologise for the comments he is said to have made about Jewish students, Offord said: “That is a matter for him to deliberate on with his team.”

Defending the Leader

The peer maintained that the leader is “morally fit” to be prime minister and denied he was employing dog-whistle politics. During his speech, the leader had reiterated on previous comments about the number of Glasgow schoolchildren who speak English as a second language by asking the rally: “Who voted for the wholesale change of the population of Glasgow?”

While the first minister, John Swinney criticised Farage’s original remarks as “racist”, and the Labour leader called them “toxic and divisive”, the defector argued that his new leader was “drawing attention to a real concern” that “voters are discussing”.

A Party on the Rise

The event, 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 ahead of the Scottish vote.

While the Scottish National Party remains ahead, the party has made substantial progress in the past year, securing 26% of the vote in its first Holyrood byelection test. Following Scottish Labour's decline, the party has often relegated it to third in recent months, with support reaching over a fifth.

Declaring that Reform UK membership in Scotland had quadrupled in the past year to 12,000 members, a senior party official stated his belief it could gain up to 20 MSPs in May, which would place Reform in “a very strong position” in the Scottish Parliament.

Campaign Rhetoric

A Reform councillor, a local representative for the party, elicited loud cheers as he described Farage as “the future PM of the UK”. He told supporters to “man the barricades as we “challenge the ruling class”, warning that “the coming campaign will be difficult”.

Despite not yet publishing any Scotland-specific policies, representatives vowed the party would “confront climate activists and those profiting from green policies”.

Farage himself expressed his pleasure 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”.

Protests Nearby

Meanwhile, a few miles west in Falkirk town centre, anti-immigration and anti-racist protesters were gathering for a now-regular weekly standoff near a hotel used to accommodate asylum seekers.

A group coordinating protests stated they were motivated by a serious local crime. Speaking previously, First Minister John Swinney warned that “what the far right do is to apportion the blame … to asylum seekers or migrants and I think that is the root of the poison”.

However, he differentiated extremist opinions and people with “valid concerns” about strain on public services or community safety.