One thing was abundantly clear at Nigel Farage’s latest press conference as he tried to win the Scottish vote. A politics reporter who was at the event said Farage had a much warmer welcome than his infamous visit in 2013, when, as the leader of UKIP, he had to retreat into an Edinburgh pub to hide from demonstrators after campaigning for Brexit.
At this conference, held at Macdonald Houstoun House hotel in Uphall, outside of Edinburgh, Farage reportedly appeared to understand Scottish politics better, which David Walker from our sister paper the Scottish Daily Express explained was generally based on nationalist or unionist ideas.
The “surging party” looked to take advantage of “Scots fed up with both the SNP and the Labour and Tory governments in London”.
Despite the expert explaining that some Scots see Reform UK’s unionist tendencies as “wobbly”, the party’s stance on ousting SNP stood them in good stead.
Nigel Farage declared he wanted Reform UK to be “strong enough” in Scotland to “get rid of the SNP”, as he announced Graham Simpson, who represents Central Scotland, had defected from the Tories to join his party as its only MSP in Holyrood.
The Reform UK leader was his usual unfiltered self at the conference, without pre-prepared answers or scripted talking points, which Walker said “has endeared him to the public”.
Writing for the Scottish Daily Express, Walker added: “A hate figure no more, Farage has become a cult hero to some in society.”
Farage reportedly remained calm under pressure and only bit back twice under a grilling about Reform UK being primarily male, and claims that he was a Putin fanboy. Farage insisted the comments were taken out of context from more than a decade ago.
He committed to campaigning more often in Scotland, while openly admitting that his policy platform for Scotland is still uncertain.
However, there was one thing Walker believes Farage must do for success in the next election. He said “tThe main issue for Reform in Scotland is Farage admitting he will take a back seat during election debates”.
Walker declared that for continued momentum, the party “needs to find someone like him to replicate his success north of the border”.
