'Bring it on': Reform's Malcolm Offord rumoured to be plotting bid to take on Jackie Baillie

There is widespread speculation Malcolm Offord is preparing to stand in Dumbarton, where Jackie Baillie has been an MSP since the dawn of devolution in 1999.

Ms Baillie, Scottish Labour’s deputy leader, increased her majority from just 109 votes in 2016 to 1,483 at the last Holyrood election in 2021, but her seat has long been an SNP target.

Mr Offord standing in the constituency could take votes away from Labour by further splitting the unionist vote. A spokesperson for Reform UK Scotland said: "The party has not yet announced its candidates and will not comment further at this time."

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Mr Offord, who is a multimillionaire, reportedly bought a £1.6 million property on the banks of Loch Lomond - much of which falls within the Dumbarton constituency - without a mortgage in 2024.

He defected to Reform from the Conservatives in December and was unveiled as the party’s new Scottish leader by Nigel Farage last month.

Ms Baillie, who is also Labour’s health spokeswoman in Holyrood, said: “Scottish Labour is prepared to challenge Reform wherever they stand candidates - and so our message to Lord Offord is: bring it on.

“The truth is that only Scottish Labour can beat the SNP, as Reform will only help John Swinney and his tired party hold on to power for another miserable decade.

“The Dumbarton constituency will have a key role to play in locking the SNP out of Bute House - and I will campaign tirelessly over the next three months.”

Mr Offord was made a life peer in 2021, and served as a Scotland Office minister and business minister in the previous Tory administration at Westminster.

Last month, he announced his intention to retire from the House of Lords to run for Reform in May’s election.

Reform is due to unveil its slate of Holyrood candidates at a special conference in the first week of March. National polls currently show the party in second place, ahead of Labour, while the SNP maintains a substantial lead.

Ms Baillie, who co-chairs Labour’s Holyrood election campaign, is seen as one of her party’s most formidable operators and has built a reputation as a hard-working local MSP.

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In 2021, the SNP’s candidate in Dumbarton, Toni Giugliano, blamed his loss on tactical voting by Tory unionists. “The sound of Tory activists cheering louder than Labour at yesterday’s count speaks for itself,” he wrote on social media.

Speaking at a press conference in Kirkcaldy in January, Mr Farage insisted the election will be a “two-horse race” between his party and the SNP.

“I think we could even surprise ourselves with just how many votes we manage to garner in this election,” he added.

At the same event, Mr Offord said Reform will be fielding candidates in all 73 Holyrood constituencies “with one sole objective – to get Scotland back to the top of the table”.

Mr Offord did not respond to a message asking him to confirm whether he will stand in Dumbarton.