Reform UK wants a real Holyrood policy platform - but risk cementing pie in the sky reputation

Malcolm Offord, a former Tory donor and UK government minister, bounded out from a curtain to give his first keynote address after being picked by Nigel Farage to lead the party north of the Border.

The backdrop was pretty stark. Mr Offord was in Inverclyde, but not a shade of the ingrained inequality and deprivation that has cast a shadow over that corner of Scotland was on show.

Instead, the Ingilston Country Club location will have done little to extinguish the perception that Reform UK, in both Mr Farage and Mr Offord, is being led by the establishment - and the super-rich.

READ MORE: Reform vows huge income tax cut for Scots costing billions as Offord insists party can remove SNP

Before Mr Offord set out his stall, Reform members could be heard chuntering about what they can expect from their new party leader.

One activist was hoping for another defection but “not one of these squishy wet Tories”, with a belief the Conservatives “calculate whose a*** to lick to climb the greasy pole”. Unsurprisingly, another Tory councillor had jumped ship.

READ MORE: 'I don’t make it up as I go along': Reform's only MSP denies party will 'disrupt' Holyrood

Ahead of Mr Offord tabling some of his plans for Holyrood, he was introduced by Reform’s only sitting MSP, Graham Simpson, who with all the will in the world, has as much charisma as rising damp.

Mr Offord is one of Reform UK’s better communicators. But ultimately he came armed with a shiny giveaway, with big questions about how he would be able to pay for the huge promised tax cut with very little detail put forward despite the eye-watering bill.

This strategy is something we can likely get used to during the upcoming election campaign.

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The multimillionaire is still singing from the same hymn book as Mr Farage on immigration - with no proof or evidence to back up Mr Offord’s claim that Scots are “witnessing priority of services, opportunity and safety being given to strangers”.

Mr Offord also doubled down on Reform’s tactics of misinformation used against Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar in last year’s Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election when questioned over it by The Scotsman, amid a chorus of boos and moans from Reform activists.

The party appears intent on dividing communities and using those who have chosen to call Scotland their home as the reason why living standards have not improved, without proof. That, Reform hope, will recruit voters looking for easy answers to complex problems - but also risks putting off many Labour, SNP and even Tory voters who will dismiss that narrative.

This speech was Mr Offord and Reform’s first venture into explicitly embracing Scottish devolution, albeit by painting a picture of how badly it has let down Scots, in their eyes. But it was a chance to eradicate the perception that Reform will disrupt and even abolish the Scottish Parliament after May’s election.

There is little doubt that Reform will play a big role in May’s election. But the big question for Mr Offord over whether he stacks up against the established party leaders remains to be seen. If Mr Offord wants Reform to have a serious policy platform, his proposals will need to be backed up with evidence that is so far missing.