Conservative MSP Graham Simpson has defected to Reform. Simpson announced his move as he appeared at a press conference in Scotland with Reform leader Nigel Farage. The new Reform MSP told journalists that many would not be surprised to see him defect, and that leaving the Conservatives was “an enormous wrench”. He is the second MSP to leave the party’s Holyrood group in the past week.
A Scottish Conservative spokesperson said the party remained focused on “holding the SNP and Labour to account”. The party said it would keep focusing on how to get the nationalists out of power. The defection means Simpson becomes Reform’s sole current MSP.
Simpson has been an MSP for the Central Scotland region since 2016. He is a former journalist with The Sun and Daily Record. He said he would remain in parliament following his defection and would not give up his seat on the Central Scotland regional list.
Simpson said he decided to join Reform UK to “create something new, exciting and lasting”. Speaking with leader Nigel Farage by his side, he added that he thought Reform could “help” to remove the SNP from office after 19 years in power. Farage said Reform will have a Scottish leader in place ahead of the Holyrood election next year.
Farage’s visit comes against a backdrop of increased tension and rhetoric around immigration. On Tuesday, the Reform leader launched a scheme called Operation Restoring Justice, aimed at tackling the migrant issue. He said Reform would deport 600,000 migrants over five years if it won power at the next election.
Scottish Labour Deputy Leader Jackie Baillie said Reform are “simply Tories by another name” and said neither party had answers to the “challenges Scotland faces”. Baillie added that the next Scottish Parliament election will be a direct choice between a third decade of SNP failure or a new direction with Scottish Labour.
SNP foreign affairs spokesman Stephen Gethins attacked the Reform MP for his “extraordinarily damaging” policies and rhetoric on immigration. Gethins questioned Reform plans to work with the Taliban to send people back to Afghanistan, as well as having the UK leave the European Convention on Human Rights.
It felt like it was only a matter of time until a Conservative MSP jumped ship to Reform. With a Holyrood election next year, the Tory position looks bleak. Reform UK seems to be on the up. Graham Simpson’s name was one that was doing the rounds as a likely defector. The Conservatives seem to be leaking MSPs fast. Will he be the last to depart? Simpson seems to see this as an opportunity to help shape something new. It may also be a route to make his re-election to Holyrood next year more likely.
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