Well, well, well. As Nigel Farage’s Reform party continues to poll well across the UK, north of the border the right-wing group is making yet more gains in Scotland. Now yet another Scottish Tory councillor has defected to join Reform UK, with the party announcing this morning that Alec Leishman had switched sides – as Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay was delivering a keynote speech – before dubbing the move as a ‘bitter blow’ to the Conservatives. Another one bites the dust…
The Renfrewshire councillor remarked today that he is ‘delighted’ to have joined Reform. Quick to blast his former party, Leishman proclaimed:
Scotland badly needs change. The SNP have failed our country with their narrow-minded obsession with independence but, both Labour and the Conservatives have enabled them in their policy support in Holyrood. From Net Zero madness to woke gender ideology and policing free speech, the Holyrood bubble is proving how completely detached it is from Scotland’s communities.
Oo er. The move will come as a particular blow to the new Scottish Tory leader, who is the MSP for the West of Scotland region which covers Leishman’s Renfrewshire patch. More than that, though, old newspaper cuttings show Findlay delivered a glowing endorsement of Leishman, urging Paisley Daily Express readers to back the council candidate in 2021 and gushing:
Alec is a smart guy who wants to serve his community. He’s a pragmatic Conservative who loves Scotland just as much as any SNP supporter… I would urge all those who have a vote on 14 December to use it.
Bet he regrets being quite so supportive now, eh?
Leishman is the sixth Scottish Tory councillor to trade in his blue badge for a turquoise one, following in the footsteps of two Aberdeenshire politicians, two Ayrshire councillors and Glasgow’s Thomas Kerr, with the latter’s decision revealed by Steerpike last month. Scotland’s Reform party tell Mr S they have now reached 9,000 members – overtaking the Scottish Tories – and are hopeful more defections are on the cards.
It comes after a Survation poll in January suggested the party could win 15 seats in 2026 – overtaking the Liberal Democrats and Scottish Greens to become the fourth biggest party in Holyrood. Will more politicians jump ship? Watch this space…
Comments