Nigel Farage's Reform UK loses its fifth Holyrood candidate
James Glen announced he had withdrawn from the race on social media
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has lost its fifth Holyrood candidate in just over a week, leading to claims its campaign has descended into chaos.
James Glen, the candidate for Edinburgh North Western, said he had now withdrawn from the race.
In a social media post, he voiced support for Linda Holt, who was running in Fife North East but quit on Thursday.
“I have withdrawn my candidacy for Reform UK,” Mr Glen wrote on X. “I fully support Linda in her decision and the reasons behind it. I wish the candidates the very best.”
Ms Holt had blamed a lack of support from the party for her decision to withdraw.
She had faced controversy over past comments calling former SNP first minister Humza Yousaf a “grandstanding Islamist moron”, “a brown FM” and “not British”.
However, her decision to quit came shortly after it emerged she had been placed eighth on the Mid Scotland and Fife list. As she was very unlikely to win her constituency, this effectively ruled out her chances of becoming an MSP.
Mr Glen has been placed ninth, leaving him in a similar position.
In a BBC radio interview, Malcolm Offord, the leader of Reform UK in Scotland, was asked if losing so many candidates was “shambolic”.
He said: “I wouldn't say it was shambolic, I'd say in fact the opposite. I would say we've done an extraordinary thing in a short space of time to interview over 300 candidates to get 73 wanting to stand.
“It's not easy to stand as an MSP and a lot of people are finding that out. The media scrutiny is intense and it's not for everybody, and so some people have pulled out.”
He said the vetting process had been “terrific”, adding: “As I said, it's gone from over 300 to 73 in six months. That's an extraordinary achievement for a brand new party, with a lot of very interesting people coming in, a really interesting mix of people of whom 80 per cent have not been politicians before..”
Lord Offord said Reform had “backups” to replace those who had quit.
Stuart Niven, the party’s candidate for Dundee City West, was suspended less than 24 hours after being unveiled following allegations about his financial conduct.
Meanwhile, Jordan Brown will no longer stand for the party in Aberdeen Central and Roland Jackson quit as the candidate in Mid Fife and Glenrothes.
Labour Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander said: “The chaos engulfing Reform’s campaign is now way beyond humorous – it’s humiliating. Candidates are dropping like flies and Malcolm Offord has come out of hiding to show himself up on national radio.
“Nigel Farage’s hand-picked leader Lord Offord is proving hopeless – he can’t even run a campaign, let alone a country.
“Reform are not serious contenders for power – they have no standards, no ideas and no chance of beating the SNP.”
Scottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton said: “Losing a fifth candidate within a week shows Reform are in disarray.
“Lord Offord’s rabble are out of their depth and not strong enough to stand up to the SNP, especially given they have pro-independence candidates.”
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