To Aberdeenshire in Scotland, where a fourth Scottish Tory councillor has defected to Reform UK. It transpires that Dominic Lonchay – represents the East Garioch ward on the council – has jumped ship to Nigel Farage’s real army in another blow to the Scottish Tories. Lonchay’s defection makes him the 13th councillor to join Reform UK in Scotland – and the fourth on Aberdeenshire Council. The tide is turning…
Commenting on his decision, Lonchay remarked:
The reasons for this decision are many, and I have particularly recently been unable to influence the running of the council for the benefit of my constituents. I have therefore decided to join Reform Scotland, and I look forward to working with colleagues in the unaligned group of councillors for the benefit of my constituents.
It’s the latest blow for Tory-run council, after its leader Gillian Owen quit following a row which saw her brand her own colleagues ‘f***ing bastards’. No love lost there then!
Today's development comes just weeks after polling by Survation for True North suggested that Farage's crowd could become the official opposition to the SNP in Scotland. The survey suggested Reform UK could leapfrog both the Tories and Scottish Labour to end up in second place, taking a fifth of the vote to end up with 21 seats. Previous polls this year have seen Reform consistently pick up support across Scotland, with both Norstat and Survation surveys predicting the new party could elect as many as 15 MSPs from a standing start. It's quite the turnaround!
And fast approaching is the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election that will put this polling to the test. In a fortnight, Scots will head to the polls to elect a new MSP for the constituency – and Reform's deputy leader Richard Tice is confident that the battle is a 'two horse race' between his group and the SNP. Will Reform spark panic in Scottish Labour circles by pushing the reds into third place? Stay tuned…
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