Former deputy Scotland secretary Malcolm Offord defects to Reform UK

Former Scotland office minister Malcolm Offord has defected to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party.

Baron Offord of Garval, who currently sits in the House of Lords, is the first Conservative peer to defect to Reform.

Offord held the role of under-secretary of state for Scotland under Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.

He also became under-secretary of state for exports until the Conservatives lost the 2024 election to Labour.

Until his defection, he served as treasurer for the Scottish Conservatives.

Tory peer Baron Offord defects to Reform UK STV News

On Saturday, he appeared at a rally in Falkirk attended by Farage where he announced his decision to defect to Reform UK.

He also announced plans to stand for the party at next year’s Holyrood elections and would give up his seat in the House of Lords as he prepares to campaign.

Farage welcomed the move, describing his defection as a “brave and historic act”.

“Scotland needs Reform and Reform is coming to Scotland,” he told Saturday’s rally.

“Today I can announce that I am resigning from the Conservative Party. Today I am joining Reform UK and today I announce my intention to stand for Reform in the Holyrood election in May next year.

“And that means that from today, for the next five months, day and night, I shall be campaigning with all of you tirelessly for two objectives.

“The first objective is to remove this rotten SNP government after 18 years, and the second is to present a positive vision for Scotland inside the UK, to restore Scotland to being a prosperous, proud, healthy and happy country.”

The Greenock-born businessman was made a life peer in 2021 by then prime minister Boris Johnson. Following his peerage, he was made Baron Offord of Garvel.

He had previously donated nearly £150,000 to the party.

He becomes Reform’s latest high-profile defection in Scotland. The party previously announced the defection of Scottish Tory MSP Graham Simpson, who gave a speech at the Falkirk rally, as well as a host of councillors around the country.

Discussing his experiences with the Scottish Tories, the former minister said: “What I found, quite candidly, is a party which is regional not national, parochial not political, timid not ambitious; a party without a vision of how to govern Scotland with a right-of-centre agenda.”

‘Offord has stabbed colleagues in the back’

Following the announcement, Conservative MSP Stephen Kerr slammed Offord and said he had ‘knifed colleagues in the back’.

The Central Scotland MSP said in a post on X: “Offord is a man who can thank the Conservatives for everything he has ever achieved in politics. A huge deal of trust was placed in him.

“You must question the morals and principles of a man who responds to that trust by knifing his colleagues in the back.”

A Scottish Conservative spokesman said: “Any vote for Reform next year will only tighten the SNP’s grip on power at Holyrood.

“Nigel Farage has been clear he is fine with John Swinney staying as First Minister, his party stood pro-independence candidates in the last election, and he is still courting others who would break up the UK.

“The Scottish Conservatives, under Russell Findlay’s leadership, recognise that many people feel completely disconnected from politics.

“That is why we will continue to relentlessly focus on promoting common-sense Conservative policies to grow our economy and stand up for the priorities of mainstream Scotland.”