EXCLUSIVE: A Reform UK source also said the party is planning to hold off announcing their candidates because they want more Tory MSPs to defect.
Reform UK is set to keep their Holyrood candidate list top secret until the eve of the election. A party source in Scotland said they are delaying revealing their candidates over concerns about media exposes.
The insider also said the delay was motivated by giving sitting Tory MSPs as much time as possible to defect. Scottish Labour Deputy Leader Jackie Baillie said: “It speaks volumes that Reform are holding out for more Tories to join their party while trying to hide their candidates from the public for as long as possible.
“The truth is the Tories and Reform are simply the same team with a different badge. This out-of-touch party of con-artists have nothing to offer the people of Scotland and no chance of beating the SNP.”
Opinion polls show Nigel Farage’s right wing party could return around twenty MSPs in May – putting Reform in line for second place. But unlike other political parties, Reform has not announced the identity of their candidates for the election.
Farage has previously spoken of his anger at the poor vetting during the general election, which led to candidates with racist views getting selected. One Scottish candidate was binned in 2024 after sharing a post which said SNP MSP Humza Yousaf should not be able to hold a rugby trophy because he is “more Pakistani than Scottish.”
A Reform source told the Record the anti-immigration party wants to hold off announcing the candidates until March over nervousness about their views and history. The insider also said there is tension behind the scenes over claims defectors and being prioritised over longer-standing members.
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The source said the largely-Tory converts are more favoured by Farage and his hand-picked Scottish leader Malcolm Offord, who defected from the Tories:
“We get told very little from leadership. What has been made clear is there will be no announcement until March and we are told this is to shorten the time for media scrutiny. This was made clear while attending training at Millbank Tower in London in early January.
“The party must accept that scrutiny is the heart of our democracy and if they vet candidates properly which they claim they are doing then they should not be so obsessive over avoiding the possibility of some bad press”.
MSP Graham Simpson last year jumped ship from the Tories to Reform and the source said Reform have put the candidate announcements on ice to woo more defectors:
“Many of the approved candidates know that the party are waiting for Scottish Conservative defectors and we know that despite what we have invested many of them will be parachuted into high ranking positions in areas Reform are likely to win such as list seats as current polling shows.
“Externally Reform is showing itself to be the party of change, while internally they have silenced candidates while preparing to sideline others for defectors.”
As part of the candidate assessment process, wannabe MSPs attended an advanced media training day in London in January.
It is understood the aspiring candidates were mock interviewed by TV personality Jeremy Kyle and Reform UK chairman David Bull.
Potential candidates are also required to undertake a “disclosure and barring service” (DBS) check – effectively a criminal records check.
Offord, a yachting enthusiast who owns a £1.6m country estate on the banks of Loch Lomond, is expected to top his party’s west of Scotland list for Holyrood.
Scottish Lib Dem MSP Jamie Greene said: “Reform spend more time ducking and dodging scrutiny than they do on providing any real policies.
“It’s no surprise they don’t let the public or the media know who their candidates are. God forbid we get to scrutinise them and their appalling politics of division.
“These delays also confirm that Nigel Farage and Lord Offord are gunning for Reform to become the Conservative Party 2.0. I left the Conservative party because I wanted real change, not more of the same.”
Scottish Greens co-leader Gillian Mackay said: “None of this is surprising coming from another Farage passion project. Reform continues to show nothing new and seem to be simply repackaging failed Tory politicians and some that are simply frightened of losing their seats.
“The questions they should be answering are, who is being hidden that they don’t want publicly scrutinised?”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Tories said: “We know Reform are all too happy to have pro-independence candidates standing for them so it isn’t surprising they are desperate to avoid scrutiny.”
Reform UK’s general election campaign was dogged by rows over candidates and racism, with Farage’s party dropping three candidates.
Reform UK were contacted.
