Holyrood election 2026: 'I will not fight dirty', says Scotland's only Reform MSP

Graham Simpson MSP says he is “not going to get down and dirty” when out campaigning for the 2026 Scottish Parliament election, and will instead focus on policy arguments.

This comes after Reform UK was heavily criticised for some of its campaign advertising against Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar during the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election earlier this year.

Speaking to Holyrood Magazine, Mr Simpson said: “Look, there’s a difference between slagging off Reform, which you’d expect to happen in the run-up to a Scottish Parliament election, and slagging off the individual.

“I’ve also been very clear that I won’t indulge in that kind of behaviour.

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“I’m not going to get down and dirty and start attacking individuals or their character or personality, when it should be a debate about policy.”

He also said one Conservative MSP is “not even looking at me, let alone talking to me” since he defected over the summer.

During the Hamilton by-election Reform UK was heavily criticised for an advert claiming that Mr Sarwar would “prioritise the Pakistani community”.

It is understood the social media advert cost Reform UK between £8,000 and £9,000 and was viewed up to half a million times.

Scottish Labour said the advert was “blatantly racist” and accused the party of questioning Mr Sarwar’s “identity, loyalty and belonging”.

During a campaign visit to Scotland party leader Nigel Farage then doubled down on his advert against Mr Sarwar when questioned by journalists.

Reform UK came third in this by-election.

There have now been two separate polls which predict Reform UK will become the second largest party in Holyrood after the May election.

Current projections suggest the party will win 19 seats, just one seat ahead of Scottish Labour.

However, Mr Simpson believes his new party will see “over 20” seats being won.

He said: “It might sound ambitious, but you may as well be ambitious … at the moment, I would say around the 20-mark would be good, over that would be very good.”