Reform UK announce former Tory Lord Offord as new leader in Scotland
Nigel Farage has announced Reform UK’s new leader in Scotland as millionaire former Tory donor Lord Malcolm Offord.
The former Tory minister was made a peer by Boris Johnson before joining Mr Farage’s party in December and will now lead Reform UK’s efforts in Scotland.
Announcing his new role at a press conference in Fife on Thursday morning, Mr Farage announced Lord Offord would give up his seat in the Lords to run for Holyrood in May.
Lord Offord served as export minister in the Conservative government before Labor won the 2024 general election.
The former Scottish Conservative party treasurer donated nearly £150,000 to the Conservatives and was made a life peer by former prime minister Mr Johnson in September 2021, giving him his first ministerial post.
When he joined Reform in December he declared that he believed the Scottish Conservatives had “given up” on Scotland.
He also confirmed that he would resign from the House of Lords and return his peerage to campaign for a seat at Holyrood as “good old Malcolm Offord”.
Ahead of the press conference, photographers gathered around a copy of a letter from Lord Offord’s office confirming his wish to retire from the House of Lords.
His leadership in Scotland is the latest in a series of announcements by the party ahead of local elections in May, which are expected to see Labor disappear and Reform gain a boost.
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