Reform’s Scottish leader defends candidates after ‘fruity’ comments emerge
One candidate reportedly previously said on social media that Muslims should be deported.
The leader of Reform UK Scotland has defended his Holyrood candidates’ “fruity” comments after it emerged they had backed Tommy Robinson and accused former first minister Humza Yousaf of being an “Islamist”.
Malcolm Offord said he was aware of the posts on social media and urged people to “not take offence at every moment in time”.
He also defended Sarah Pochin MP, who said at the party’s conference in Scotland that she wanted to wear a “tartan burqa” but was not allowed to do so.
First Minister John Swinney said that remark was racist – something Lord Offord rejected.
The party announced its Scottish Parliament manifesto on Thursday, along with its constituency candidates.
Within hours, social media posts from the candidates emerged, including some backing far-right figures and calling for the deportation of Muslims.
The Daily Record reported that Senga Beresford, Reform candidate for Galloway and West Dumfries, supported a Tommy Robinson in rally in 2024 and called for Muslims to be deported.
Linda Holt, the candidate for Fife North East, described Mr Yousaf in social media posts as a “grandstanding Islamist moron” and said he was “not British”, according to The Courier.
On Friday, Lord Offord confirmed he knew about the remarks before the candidates were announced publicly.
Asked about Ms Holt’s comments, he told BBC Radio Breakfast Scotland: “I’ve been very clear that we have brought in a whole range of candidates, 80% of whom are not politicians.
“They’re real people with real lives who said real things in a past life, okay? This was said before she was a candidate. She wasn’t even a member of the party at that time.
“What we’ve got is a situation in all our lives, in the past, we’ve made comments that might sometimes be intemperate, but the issue with this modern world we live in is everything is now written down and remembered.
“I just think we have to be more realistic about the fact that real people say real things, and now that she’s a candidate she will be held to higher standard.”
Pressed further on her comments about Mr Yousaf, Scotland’s first Muslim and non-white first minister, Lord Offord said he “didn’t know the context of that”, but added: “At the end of the day, if you want a bunch of people who have never said anything offensive in their lives, I don’t think you’ll find a normal person like that.”
Lord Offord, a former Tory minister, insisted Reform spent “a lot of time on vetting”, and said the party has “interesting” and “real” people standing for election.
“Everybody in their lives in the past might have said something intemperate, they might regret that in the cold light of day, but it doesn’t make them a bad person,” he said.
Asked about Galloway and West Dumfries candidate Ms Beresford, Lord Offord said it was “done in a former life before she was a member of Reform”.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, who is a Muslim, described her as “poisonous” and urged Reform UK national leader Nigel Farage to sack her.
Lord Offord urged people to “grow up” and “not take offence at every moment in time”.
He added: “As long as they have not done anything criminal, they’re allowed to express their opinion.
“We’re not stopping people from standing for Reform UK just because they might have said something fruity in the past.”
Appearing with the candidates on stage on Thursday, Mr Farage confirmed a number of them candidates were previously members of the SNP or the Conservatives, while others are “complete political virgins”.
Current polling has Reform UK on around 20% of the vote ahead of the election in May, which could see it become the second-largest party at the Scottish Parliament.
