EXCLUSIVE: David McLennan has been branded a “crank conspiracy theorist” over the wild theory.
David McLennan (Image: Copyright Unknown)
A Reform candidate believes billionaire Bill Gates is linked to a global plot to cull the population with vapour trails from airplanes.
David McLennan has also warned that Muslims will “take over” the UK and claimed Islam is a “threat”.
McLennan, who is a Reform councillor, is standing for the right wing party in the Bathgate seat on Thursday.
An X post from two years ago shows he is sympathetic to the “chemtrails” conspiracy theory that has taken hold in recent years.
High-altitude planes leave behind white vapour trails that are visible from the ground.
But believers of the barmy theory say the vapour is actually secret sprays of chemical or biological agents released by shadowy elites.
Proponents claim these sprays contain substances that try to modify the weather or control the population.
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An annual gathering of global leaders at Davos is sometimes cited as a location for the so-called plot, while Microsoft founder Gates is also wrongly identified as a leading figure.
In 2024, McLennan responded to claims that unnamed forces had sprayed “hard” from the skies in Kansas in the US.
McLennan responded: “I’m in Scotland and you can SE [sic] the vapour trails across the blue canvas slowly, surely, definitely turn into clouds to hide the sun. Gates and Davos are trying to cull the global population.”
In June last year, McLennan also wrote on X: “I’m white. Christian ( though not practicing) ..and worried.
“I’m seeing the fabric of our society changing before my eyes. Specifically the threat from Islam. The spread of the Qu’uran , the fear of any female coming home alone. Is it just me?”
Around the same time, he wrote: “Wake up guys, they’re here to take over. By 2050, this could be a Muslim country..”
Scottish Labour Deputy Leader Jackie Baillie said: “Lord Offord and Reform have welcomed crank conspiracy theorists with open arms, but Scotland deserves better.
“It is clearer than ever that Reform is nothing but a distraction in this election and the only party that can deliver change is Scottish Labour.
Scottish Greens spokesperson for Net-Zero Patrick Harvie said: “Another day, another Reform candidate pushing conspiracy theories and racist fearmongering. It shows once again exactly what kind of people Reform are putting forward for Parliament: stupid, racist and dangerous.
“Scotland deserves serious representatives who will stand up for communities, tackle poverty and protect public services. Instead Reform is offering candidates who believe in nonsense like chemtrails and population conspiracies, fronted by a leader who boasts about his extreme wealth during a cost of living crisis. Meanwhile, across the whole UK, they are spreading racism and making direct threats against communities that refuse to vote for them.
“It doesn’t matter how many times Nigel Farage rebrands, from UKIP to Brexit to Reform. The truth is that he’s just reheating the same old far-right politics that have been rejected by Scotland time and time again.”
A Scottish Conservative spokesman said: “This crank is just the latest Reform candidate to have their murky past exposed.
“Reform are in disarray. They can’t be trusted to stand up to the SNP and John Swinney’s push for another independence referendum.”
McLennan, who was a landlord, said in 2024 that Reform UK are a “landlords’ party” that will help owners gain possession of their homes.
He also blasted the abolition of no-fault evictions south of the border – despite soaring homelessness levels.
Reform was contacted.