Reform UK has gained its first peer after a defection a from the Conservative party.

Malcolm Offord was unveiled as Reform UK’s latest recruit by party leader Nigel Farage during a rally in Falkirk on Saturday.

The businessman served as a Scotland Office minister under the last government and until recently was treasurer of the Scottish Conservatives. Offord confirmed his intentions to stand for Reform UK in next May’s Holyrood elections.

Farage said he was “delighted” to welcome Offord to the party. He called the peer’s defection “a brave and historic act”.

Offord said in a speech that he wanted Scotland to be a “prosperous, happy, healthy country”. He added that he would campaign to “remove this rotten SNP government after 18 years”.

Born in Greenock, Renfrewshire, Offord was made a life peer by former prime minister Boris Johnson in 2021. He previously donated almost £150,000 to the Conservatives.

More to follow …