𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

A jubilant Nigel Farage has welcomed another defector from the Conservative Party to Reform. Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) Graham Simpson has left the Tories and joined the insurgent party. Speaking alongside Mr Farage at a press event in Livingstone, Scotland, Mr Simpson said his decision to switch to Reform “has not been easy”.

But he said: “Too many people feel let down and ignored. They feel the system is against them, that the traditional parties don’t even care about them.” He predicted Reform would make gains in next year’s Scottish elections. “The election next year here in Scotland is going to see a very different parliament from the one we have now,” he said.

Mr Simpson is just the latest in a number of defections from the Conservative Party. Others have included former Tory chairman Sir Jake Berry, former Tory MP Lee Anderson, another former MP Dame Andrea Jenkyns, councillor Laila Cunningham, Welsh Conservative Laura Anne Jones and others.

In an open call to his former Tory colleagues, new Reform UK MSP Graham Simpson said his door will be open to those with “great ideas for Scotland”.

“I’ve no doubt that, initially, my announcement today will spark anger, disappointment and probably some sheer nastiness,” he said.

“I don’t like that aspect of politics and I’m not looking forward to it, but there are many ex-colleagues who will also understand.

“I say to those who have great ideas for Scotland and who may have felt ignored: talk to me, you will find my door – wherever I am put in Parliament next week – open and receptive to the kind of fresh thinking that we need in politics.”

Addressing the decision to leave the party he joined at the age of 15, Mr Simpson said it was a “wrench”.

Speaking at a press conference in Broxburn, West Lothian, the new Reform MSP said: “It’s fair to say that some of you won’t be surprised to see me here, given that the Scottish Tories have been touting my name as a potential defector for months now.

“So today, I’m giving them what they want, but perhaps not for the reasons that they think.

“Leaving the party that I first joined when I was 15 is an enormous wrench, and I’ve been through a lot of soul searching in the past few weeks.”

There will be a Scottish leader of Reform UK ahead of the Holyrood election next year, Nigel Farage has said.

Mr Farage contradicted previous statements from his deputy leader Richard Tice who said during visits to Scotland earlier this year a leader would be chosen after the election to prevent internal rifts.

“We will, of course, have a leader of our group, who will go in as a leader of our group and be a potential first minister,” Mr Farage said.

He added: “We are a work in progress, we’re growing. We’re probably an advanced teenager now, we haven’t got to full maturity as a political party and, as I said about a moment ago, we have 200 candidates over the weekend being interviewed.”