BBC Scotland News
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 Scottish Conservatives are determined to provide positive common-sense solutions to drive our economy forward, so we can reduce NHS waiting lists and invest more in education,” the party said.
“Nigel Farage has said he’s content with another five years of SNP government. We’re going to keep focusing on how to get the nationalists out of power.”
The defection means Simpson becomes Reform’s sole current MSP.
Michelle Ballantyne sat as a Reform member at the Scottish Parliament from January to May 2021, having left the Conservatives the previous year and sitting for a short spell as an independent.
She lost her seat at the May 2021 election.
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.
Speaking at a press conference in Broxburn, West Lothian, he said: “It’s fair to say that some of you won’t be surprised to see me here, given that the Scottish Tories have been touting my name as a potential defector for months now.
“So today, I’m giving them what they want, but perhaps not for the reasons that they think.
“Leaving the party that I first joined when I was 15 is an enormous wrench, and I’ve been through a lot of soul searching in the past few weeks.”
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: “I’ve joined Reform because we have the chance to create something new, exciting and lasting that puts the needs of people over the system, that asks what is going wrong and how we can fix it.”
He said 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.
This contradicted previous statements from his deputy, Richard Tice, that a leader would be chosen after the election to prevent internal rifts.
Farage’s visit comes against a backdrop of increased tension and rhetoric around the 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.
Farage said his party would bar anyone who comes to the UK on small boats from claiming asylum, under plans announced earlier.
It says it would make £2bn available to offer payments or aid to countries like Afghanistan to take back migrants, with sanctions potentially imposed on uncooperative countries.
His comments came after a poll, by the David Hume Institute and Diffley Partnership, suggested 21% of Scots think immigration is one of the top three issues in the country, up from 16% in May and just 4% in May 2023.
It means immigration is now seen as the third biggest priority for the country, with only health and the cost-of-living crisis regarded as more important by voters.
‘Tories by another name’
Scottish Housing Secretary Mairi McAllan, issuing a statement for the SNP, described Farage as “the ultimate symbol of Westminster failure”.
She accused the Reform leader of promoting “ugly, anti-immigrant rhetoric” and “whipping up hatred against vulnerable people”.
McAllan added: “Labour has failed, and Nigel Farage has nothing to offer.
“Scotland needs a fresh start – and the only one that will work for Scotland is independence.”
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “Yet another lifelong Tory has decided to flee their sinking ship in a bid to save their own career, but it will take more than a new rosette to make Scots forget the damage Tories like Graham Simpson have inflicted on our country over the years.”
She said Reform are “simply Tories by another name” and said neither party had answers to the “challenges Scotland faces”.
Baillie added: “The next Scottish Parliament election will be a direct choice between a third decade of SNP failure or a new direction with Scottish Labour.”
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.
Graham Simpson is a big campaigner for recall – the right to essentially fire your MSP under certain circumstances.
Ironically, there will be plenty who think that switching parties should be grounds for that.
But Simpson insists it’s right that he stays put on the Holyrood benches.
