{"id":948872,"date":"2026-05-09T18:56:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T18:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/948872\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T18:56:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T18:56:00","slug":"reform-uk-scotland-msps-elect-leader-and-deputy-leader-in-bid-to-challenge-status-quo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/948872\/","title":{"rendered":"Reform UK Scotland MSPs elect leader and deputy leader in bid to ‘challenge status quo’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The party returned 17 MSPs at the Scottish Parliament election, tying with Labour for second place.Fionnuala Boyle<\/strong><\/a> and Craig Meighan, Press Association Scotland political reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n

17:55, 09 May 2026<\/p>\n

\"Malcolm<\/p>\n

Malcolm Offord made his first speech as Reform leader in Scotland at a country club in Bishopton in January(Image: Getty)<\/p>\n

Reform UK Scotland\u2019s new MSPs have elected the party\u2019s leader and deputy leader. Thomas Kerr will be deputy while Lord Malcolm Offord will retain the top spot after already being appointed leader by Nigel Farage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The party\u2019s Holyrood group confirmed the posts on Saturday night. Mr Kerr is a former Tory councillor who defected to Reform last year, and on Friday was confirmed as one of the party\u2019s 17 MSPs at Holyrood<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He was Lord Offord\u2019s <\/a>de facto deputy and was widely considered to be up for the role, which he said he was \u201chonoured\u201d to accept.<\/p>\n

Mr Kerr added: \u201cAcross Scotland<\/a>, people are crying out for honest leadership, practical policies, and politicians who are prepared to stand up for ordinary working people.<\/p>\n

\"Thomas<\/p>\n

Thomas Kerr(Image: Getty)<\/p>\n

\u201cReform UK Scotland is building a movement that will challenge the status quo and bring real change to Scottish politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look forward to working with colleagues across the country to grow our support and deliver a stronger voice for Scotland.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lord Offord said: \u201cThomas is a talented and dedicated politician <\/a>who understands the concerns of people right across the country. His dedication and passion for delivering change make him the ideal choice as deputy leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cTogether, we will continue building a credible and ambitious movement focused on lower taxes, safer communities, economic growth, and restoring trust in politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Malcom<\/p>\n

Malcom Offord and Nigel Farage at a press conference in Kirkcaldy(Image: Jeff J Mitchell\/Getty)<\/p>\n

The party said Mr Kerr, one of its most vocal members on social media<\/a>, would play a leading role in shaping party strategy and \u201cengaging with voters\u201d throughout Scotland.<\/p>\n

Reform UK Scotland said the appointment \u201creflects the party\u2019s determination to strengthen its leadership team and continue growing its support base nationwide\u201d.<\/p>\n

The party returned 17 MSPs at the Scottish election<\/a>, tying with Labour for second place. The SNP finished first with 58 MSPs, while the Greens, Conservatives and Lib Dems won 15, 12 and 10 seats respectively.<\/p>\n

Get more Daily Record exclusives by signing up for free to Google\u2019s preferred sources. Click HERE<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The party returned 17 MSPs at the Scottish Parliament election, tying with Labour for second place.Fionnuala Boyle and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":948873,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5009],"tags":[748,527,4884,210591,528,10614,256763,384,285,386,712,8545,1523,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-948872","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scotland","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-conservative-party","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-holyrood-election","12":"tag-labour-party","13":"tag-liberal-democrat-party","14":"tag-malcolm-offord","15":"tag-nigel-farage","16":"tag-politics","17":"tag-reform-uk","18":"tag-scotland","19":"tag-scottish-national-party","20":"tag-taxes","21":"tag-uk","22":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116546149063512947","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=948872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948872\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/948873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=948872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=948872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=948872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}