Last Saturday, Reform UK candidates took to the streets across the country.
The party, led by Nigel Farage, declared a national day of action, with stalls popping up all around the UK.
Formerly the Brexit Party, Reform has seen unprecedented success in recent years. At the last general election in 2024, the group won 5 seats and received a vote share of 14.3%.
Here in Scotland, Reform only have one MSP — Graham Simpson who after being elected as a Conservative in 2021, he defected to Reform in August.
Are voters willing to elect a Reform candidate to the Scottish Parliament? Glasgow City councillor Thomas Kerr thinks the answer is yes.
He intends to stand for Reform in the upcoming 2026 election.
Stationed in the middle of Buchanan Street, Kerr was keen to meet members of the public.
“People are angry – they’re looking for something different. Reform are the new kids on the block,” he says.
The party may be new, but Nigel Farage is a familiar face. Much of his political career was spent campaigning for Brexit.
Out of the four UK countries, Scotland had the highest proportion of Remain voters, with 62% of voters wanting to remain in the European Union.
Could this association taint Reform’s image in Scotland? Kerr doesn’t believe it will.
“I think people have moved on from it,” he says of Brexit.
He feels the stall has been generally well received, and says 4 new Reform members signed up within one hour of its opening.
But the true test of Reform’s popularity will be at the ballot box, with Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd elections coming up next May.
A recent poll by Survation and the Herald puts Reform on track to become the second biggest party at Holyrood.
The potential vote share has Reform overtaking Labour for the first time, with the SNP set to remain the country’s largest party.
This could translate into 22 Reform MSPs, a result that just a few years ago would have been unbelievable to many in Scotland.
