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Reform UK can prevent the United Kingdom breaking apart by ousting the SNP from power in the Scottish Parliament, according to a former Conservative MP now campaigning to make Nigel Farage prime minister. Ross Thomson believes Reform UK has the chance to become the biggest Opposition party in May’s elections to the Edinburgh Parliament – and that it could bring the era of SNP-led government to an end.

He said: “I think the one thing that will save the union is Reform doing really well next year. I think they are the only party in Scotland that could credibly take on the SNP and even kick them out of office, because it is the only party that is gaining support across Scotland.”

Such a dramatic result could, the 37-year-old suggests, force Labour in Westminster to rethink its commitment to net zero. He insists that the decline of oil and gas extraction is a “huge risk to the whole of the United Kingdom”.

He said: “It just seems utter madness that you’re causing that amount of destruction on the altar of net zero in this ideological goal.”

Mr Thomson, who represented the Tories in both the Scottish and Westminster parliaments, campaigned for Donald Trump in Florida in last year’s presidential contest and then worked at the Trump International Scotland golf resort in Aberdeenshire. He argues the same desire for change which has transformed US politics could lead to a similar “revolution” in the UK.

He said: “If there’s anyone who’s got that kind of charisma like President Trump, it’s Nigel Farage. He’s only interesting person in British politics.

“He’s the only authentic person in British politics. He’s the only person that any voter could think, ‘Yeah, I could go to the pub and have a pint with that guy and I’d love to do that.’

“I just think there’s no one that quite touches his star in British politics, and I think that’s going to serve Reform really well in the upcoming election.”

Describing the consequences for the whole UK if the SNP is replaced by Mr Farage’s party, he said: “If there’s a Reform Government, well, then the whole independence thing is finally dead and gone and we can start getting on with some other stuff and doing the day job, which is I think what people want.”

As a Conservative, Mr Thomson was a champion of Boris Johnson because he thought he would be “better than Theresa May”. But he does not believe the return of the former PM to the Tories would transform the party’s fortunes.

He said: “Even if Boris came back [and led] the Tories, I still don’t think that’s enough. People have moved on and people really want change.

“He would represent the past and people want something different and are looking to the future, and I think Nigel represents the future.”

Mr Thomson, who joined the Conservatives at 16 and represented Aberdeen South from 2017 to 2019, described his disenchantment with the Tories, saying: “I just felt that the Conservative party had really lost its way. I felt that it had left me – not the other way around.”

He said he then found himself “cheering Nigel Farage on, on the TV, thinking, ‘He’s saying all the right things.’”

When he formally joined the party, he said: “It was like a relief, a weight off my mind – I wasn’t wrestling any more and I felt so much more at home.”

He predicts Mr Farage would “electrify a Scottish election campaign” would “get a really warm welcome in Scotland”.

“He’s totally in tune with Scottish fishermen,” he said. “He’s totally in tune with Scottish farmers.

“He’s the only politician who’s on the side of all the oil and gas workers in Aberdeen.”

He said he finds it “incredible” Reform “could be the main Opposition party within Holyrood” but credits this to clear messages on “scrapping net zero, on controlling our borders, on supporting Scottish fishermen and farming”.

“I really think we could pull of something quite spectacular next year,” he said. “I do. I’m really excited about it. It’s the first time I’ve been excited about an election in quite a while.”