Scotland’s politicians must take the Reform threat seriously

Support for Nigel Farage’s party in Scotland is surging. This is despite the fact the Scottish group has no party leader, no parliamentarians and next to no operation on the ground. On his recent trip to Glasgow, Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice struggled to explain any devolved policies and even failed to remember the names of two councillors at an event set up to announce their defections. Meanwhile in Westminster internal battles have exploded in public with a bust-up between MPs Nigel Farage and Rupert Lowe, while Reform voters are starting to turn against their leader.

But to Scottish voters, all this doesn’t appear to matter. Today, a new opinion poll by Survation, commissioned by Quantum Communications where I work, puts Reform on its highest ever Scottish vote share. The party now stands at 17 per cent when Scots are asked about their constituency preference, and 16 per cent on the top-up regional list system used in Holyrood elections.