Five weeks away from the 2026 Holyrood election, Reform UK and the five other major parties have begun their campaign across Scotland and key constituencies.
Listening to Malcolm Offord speak on Wednesday the 1st of April, just days into the Holyrood 2026 election campaign, it’s hard to believe Reform’s election strategy and campaign journey so far isn’t one big April fools joke. Since the announcement of their Scotland manifesto, Offord’s branch of Reform UK has begun dropping like flies and revelations they would surely rather keep hidden.
Currently set to win 17 of 129 seats (as of April 1st) in the 2026 Holyrood Election, Reform UK’s campaign so far has consisted of fear-mongering and preying on those of right-wing ideology. They’ve been slammed in the media and by the Scottish Greens for their latest stunt at a press conference in Glasgow. It saw Malcolm Offord and Thomas Kerr pose alongside a billboard reading ‘Scotland is at breaking point’ with an image of migrants on a small boat and detailing their plans to tackle ‘illegal migration’ numbers in the city.
The Scottish Greens however, aren’t the first to warn of Reforms ‘racist’ scaremongering, the First Minister has stated on many occasions his desire to combat the rise of the far-right, warning of candidates views and a belief that racism is partly behind this rise in polling.
Speaking in the village of Bishopton on the 19th of March, the former Conservative peer and now Scotland branch leader, Malcolm Offord announced Reform UK’s Scotland Manifesto alongside party leader, Nigel Farage. To the surprise of no one, it was nothing short of alarming.
Their top priorities include making Scotland the most successful part of the UK, and they sure have an interesting path lined up to get there. So what stands out the most?
- Under a Reform government in Scotland, they would see the hate crime legislation introduced in 2024 scrapped. This makes it an offence to communicate threatening or abusive material to stir up hate towards a minority or ethnic group, as well as acting on crimes ‘aggravated by prejudice’.
- They would also reduce Holyrood’s number of constituency MSP’s from the current 73 to 57, while reviewing devolution powers every 10 years.
- Reform doesn’t take too keenly to tackling climate change. They plan to scrap all net-zero subsidies as well as targets to cut fossil fuel emissions. If in power they also plan to make the North Sea oil and gas industry primary energy system and abolish opposition to new nuclear power stations in the nation.
- This extends into transport with plans to remove low-emission zones.
- Onto immigration and despite the fact that asylum seekers and refugees make up 0.67% of Scotland’s population (as of Oct 2025) Reform has no shortage of plans. They state that immigrants who follow their manifesto outlined values of “generous, kind, amusing, hard-working, law-abiding and fair-minded” are “welcomed” in Scotland.
- Reform would also scrap Glasgow’s status as Scotland’s primary dispersal city for ‘successful’ asylum seekers. Around 4,500 asylum seekers are currently supported in Glasgow. Put into perspective, the city’s population is around 650,300, with an estimated 1.85 million in the wider Glasgow region.
Alongside this manifesto announcement came the full list of Reform UK’s 73 Scottish election constituency candidates. The party said they had interviewed and vetted over 300 candidates before the successful were announced, after such a lengthy and careful process, candidates should be making it to the finish line.
Following on from that announcement, Reform have now lost seven of those hopeful candidates as well as the resignation of their press officer, Amanda Crawford, in what’s been a shambolic fortnight for the campaign. With just five weeks to go until election day on the 7th of May, it begs the question of just how many candidates will be left come then.
Perhaps this is down to Reform’s pride in their unscripted party approach, leaving candidates to say what they want to say, and occasionally (or more than occasionally in their case) people will go off script.
Linda Holt, candidate for North East Fife and one of the first five to resign, announced she was stepping down after a “lack of support from the party”. It follows on from the backlash she faced online following comments branding former First Minister, Humza Yousaf, an “Islamist moron” and “not British”. Her partner James Glenn, who was up for an Edinburgh constituency seat, stood down the following day.
North Ayrshire councillor, Todd Ferguson, also resigned last week stating he had “become increasingly disillusioned by the persistent internal friction, infighting, and unprofessional conduct that have come to characterise its operations in Scotland.” He went on to say these actions showed a ‘troubling lack of transparency’ and was concerned about Reform’s deterioration under Malcolm Offord.
Amongst all the chaos, Malcolm Offord hasn’t been spared from media criticism after previous remarks made about George Michael and his partner Fadi Fawaz, came to light in late March. The incident occurred during a Burn’s night speech in 2018 while serving as chairman at the London Scottish rugby club, he denied any accusations of homophobia and instantly regretted the comments he made. Witnesses say the joke was of bad taste and left an awful feeling with those in attendance.
For many Holyrood party members and the wider public, these remarks come as no surprise and show the true colours of Reform and their candidates. Some took to social media to state Offord should apologise or stand down and accusations he is not fit for public office.
Scottish Lib Dem MSP Jamie Greene commented on the situation saying, “Sadly, nothing surprises me anymore when it comes to the bile emanating from the mouth of Reform; one wonders how much lower they might sink.” Offord has defended comments made by the resigning candidates over the past few weeks, even defending his own by stating that he ‘has gay friends’.
He commented on the antics within Reform UK’s Scotland branch by saying “We have all made comments in the past but the problem with this modern world is everything is written down and remembered.” adding, “We need to be more realistic about the fact real people say real things.”
Reform’s reputation in Scotland was already tainted from the start by those south of the border, these damages by Nigel Farage and Westminster MP’s still continue to cast a shadow on their every move. Even in their ‘brightest’ of days the scandals surrounding aren’t ideal, but when both sides of the border are continually off script, maybe that offers some advice.
