REFORM UK have denied Nigel Farage is “scared” of Scotland after he failed to attend the party’s conference in Perth.
The Reform leader was notably absent at the event, which drew a large crowd at the city’s Royal George Hotel on Saturday.
Asked whether Farage was “scared” to come to Scotland, in the wake of protests against the event, deputy leader Richard Tice (below) said: “Nigel loves Scotland.”
He added: “We can’t be everywhere at once. Nigel will be coming in January or February, but it is quite a big country and we are trying to grow quickly.
“Nigel is the most popular political leader across the whole of the United Kingdom.”
Tice said Reform were “optimistic” about the Holyrood elections in 2026, The Scotsman reports.
The party, which gained more than four million votes at the General Election, are projected to win 13 seats at the next Scottish Parliament poll, according to Ballot Box Scotland.
Tice referred to the election as the “the Holyrood thing” and predicted his party would become a “key player”.
He ruled out working with the SNP and said he “neither knows nor cares” about Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay.
The Scotsman reported that party chairman Zia Yusuf (above) received large cheers for a scathing attack on Humza Yousaf, referencing an old speech by the former first minister in which he decried the lack of diversity in Scottish public life.
Yusuf said the speech was “one of the most despicable and racist speeches of any world leader”.
It has also been attacked by Twitter/X owner Elon Musk.
The Reform chair added: “There he stood pontificating in the Scottish Parliament and his voice and body language was dripping with hate and disdain. Let’s clear something up here - there’s nothing wrong whatsoever with being white.”
