Malcolm Offord, the right wing party’s leader in Scotland, has been on the backfoot for much of the campaign.
17:00, 11 Apr 2026
Reform UK Scotland’s leader, Malcolm Offord
Reform UK in Scotland have been the disruptor in the Holyrood election campaign, with some opinion polls showing Nigel Farage’s party in line for second place.
The right wing party has singled out immigration and asylum as their main issue in an attempt to get a foothold in the Scottish Parliament.
But their campaign has suffered a number of blows, with Scots leader Malcolm Offord forced to defend himself and Reform.
Here are five of the most controversial moments of a campaign described as a “car crash” by Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar.
CANDIDATES DROP OUT
Reform is a relatively new party and bosses have tried to ensure candidate vetting was as tight as possible.
But Offord’s campaign has been undermined by the loss of eight candidates in different circumstances.
Within twenty four hours of Reform publishing their candidate lists, original Dundee City West hopeful Stuart Niven was suspended after it emerged he was disqualified as a company director.
Jordan Brown, who had been unveiled as Reform’s candidate for Aberdeen Central, then told Aberdeen University’s newspaper The Gaudie: “I’m not a candidate.”
Roland Jackson, who Reform said was the candidate in Mid Fife and Glenrothes, said he had never intended to stand for family reasons, but his name “was published prematurely in error”.
Linda Holt, the candidate in Fife North East who described former SNP First Minister Humza Yousaf as an “Islamist moron”, was the fourth to go after citing a lack of support from Reform.
James Glen, who was set to stand in Edinburgh North Western, also walked away.
Faten Hamed was unveiled as the Reform candidate in Strathkelvin and Bearsden as well as being 7th on the West of Scotland regional list.
She remains a constituency candidate but is no longer on the List.
Mark Wallis had been sixth on the same List but has dropped off altogether.
In Eastwood, Reform initially announced Donald MacNiven as their candidate, and he was also ninth on the West of Scotland List.
Paperwork from East Renfrewshire councils shows John Mooney is now the candidate in Eastwood.
GEORGE MICHAEL CONTROVERSY
Offord faced the biggest crisis of his leadership after the Record revealed he had told a vile homophobic joke during a rugby dinner in 2018.
The gag, which is too disgusting to repeat, was cracked at the expense of the late singer George Michael and his surviving partner Fadi Fawaz.
Offord said he apologised at the time and had made a donation to an LGBT rugby club.
But the joke has dogged him and he was heckled about it during a recent hustings.
He told the BBC: “It was an error of judgment, sometimes one does that, particularly when you are a private individual.
“Obviously when you are in public office it is a higher standards and we are all learning on the way.”
ALLEGED EXTREMISM
Much of the focus has been on candidates dropping out, but Reform has also felt the heat about the views expressed by Holyrood hopefuls still in place.
Dr Timothy Kelly, who is standing in East Kilbride, once claimed the covid vaccine is “neither safe or effective”.
Senga Beresford, who is third on Reform’s South Scotland List, previously supported far Right thug Tommy Robinson and called for Muslims to be deported.
Allans Lyons, who is standing in the Rutherglen and Cambuslang seat, also downplayed an incendiary tweet by criminal Lucy Connolly where she called for asylum hotels to be set on fire.
Rival parties hit out at the comments by candidates.
YACHT SNUB
Offord was mocked after he missed the first April weekend of election campaigning as he was competing in a yachting race in the English Channel.
The millionaire Reform leader was at the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s (RORC) regatta hundreds of miles away when rival parties were chapping doors.
Offord, who made his fortune in the City of London, was at the three day RORC Easter Challenge in the Solent, a 20-mile strait separating the Isle of Wight from mainland Hampshire.
Pictures show Offord helming his ‘Braveheart’ yacht. A write up of the event said Braveheart finished second in one of the races, with another listing stating that Offord was the skipper on all three days.
He said: “Heaven forbid a man has a hobby, right, and takes a day off at Easter.”
CRONYISM ROW
We revealed how Reform faced claims of “cronyism” after a top candidate’s girlfriend was given a media job on the party’s election campaign.
Thomas Kerr, who is top of the Glasgow List, defended the appointment of his partner Aimee Alexander and claimed talk of “internal struggles” meant nothing to voters.
It comes after Amanda Crawford recently quit as Reform’s press officer in Scotland.
A report claimed she resigned after raising concerns she was not being allowed to do her job properly.
Kerr said of his girlfriend getting a press role: “There’s no cronyism in it whatsoever. Amy’s a fantastic young woman who’s got her own degree in media and public relations.”
