A millionaire Conservative donor who was made a peer by Boris Johnson has defected to Reform UK in a major boost for Nigel Farage.
Lord Malcolm Offord said he was defecting from the Conservatives to Reform and intended to stand for election to the Scottish parliament next year.
The former Tory minister was introduced by Mr Farage during a party rally in Falkirk on Saturday. Announcing his defection, he said he believed the Scottish Conservatives have “given up” on Scotland.
Mr Farage welcomed Lord Offord as “somebody who I think will have a transformative effect on our party here in Scotland”, describing the defection as “a brave and historic act”.
The former Scottish Conservative party treasurer previously served in the Conservative government as an exports minister before Labour won the 2024 general election.
He confirmed he would resign from the House of Lords and return his peerage to campaign for a seat at Holyrood as “good old Malcolm Offord”.
Members of the House of Lords are disqualified from becoming members of the Scottish parliament under legislation passed earlier this year. It is not possible to renounce a life peerage, but peers can resign their membership from the House of Lords.
Lord Offord branded the Scottish Conservative party as “unelectable” and said: “I’m concerned for Scottish politics, very concerned about what happens in Scotland.
“And that’s why I’m leaving the Scottish Conservative party, because the Scottish Conservative party, I believe, have given up on Scotland and, ladies and gentlemen, I can’t do that.”
Discussing his experiences with the Scottish Tories, the former minister said: “What I found, quite candidly, is a party which is regional not national, parochial not political, timid not ambitious; a party without a vision of how to govern Scotland with a right-of-centre agenda.”
He said he would run a “positive campaign” with “hope, ambition, and reform”.
During his speech to Reform members at the Macdonald Inchyra Hotel, Mr Farage repeated claims that one in three schoolchildren in Glasgow do not speak English as their first language. Asked about the comments by reporters, Lord Offord said: “I think he’s highlighting an issue which needs to be talked about.”
Asked if the comments represent a “dog whistle”, he continued: “I don’t believe it’s a dog whistle, I think it’s a fact.”
Lord Offord, who was born in Greenock, is the latest in a string of Tory defections, including Jonathan Gullis and Lia Nici last week.
He has donated around £150,000 to the Conservatives, and was made a life peer and given his first ministerial job by former prime minister Mr Johnson in September 2021.
Lord Offord previously unsuccessfully stood as a Conservative candidate to become the MSP for the Lothian region in May 2021 before he was handed his peerage by Mr Johnson, leading to allegations of “rampant cronyism” by the SNP.
But Mr Johnson insisted he was a “guy who has a huge amount to offer” and predicted he would do a “great job”.
Lord Offord previously ran the pro-union No Borders campaign during the 2014 Scottish independence referendum and is also the founder and chair of an Edinburgh-based “boutique investment” company, Badenoch and Co.
A spokesperson for the Scottish Tories said: “Any vote for Reform next year will only tighten the SNP’s grip on power at Holyrood.
“Nigel Farage has been clear he is fine with John Swinney staying as first minister, his party stood pro-independence candidates in the last election, and he is still courting others who would break up the UK.
“The Scottish Conservatives, under Russell Findlay’s leadership, recognise that many people feel completely disconnected from politics.
“That is why we will continue to relentlessly focus on promoting commonsense Conservative policies to grow our economy and stand up for the priorities of mainstream Scotland.”
Jackie Baillie, deputy leader of Scottish Labour, said: “This defection proves what we already know: Reform aren’t even Tories in disguise anymore, they are just Tories – the same Tories that broke the immigration system, collapsed the economy and left working Scots to pay the price.
“This isn’t change – it’s the same failed politicians and failed ideas trying to divide our country.
“A vote for Reform is a vote that helps keep the SNP in power and blocks the change Scotland desperately needs.
“Scotland needs a party focused on rebuilding our NHS and delivering real change for working people – not a party of failed Conservatives playing political musical chairs.”