Scots Tory MP warns his party against ‘aping’ Farage’s Reform UK

A leading Tory MP has warned his party against “aping Nigel Farage at every available opportunity” in a bid to boost support.

The call from Andrew Bowie, the Conservative shadow Scottish secretary at Westminster, was revealed in the wake of MSP Jamie Greene quitting the Tories, accusing the party of adopting a “Reform-lite” agenda.

While Mr Bowie had been interviewed prior to Mr Greene joining the Liberal Democrats, his remarks, to Holyrood magazine, were only made public on Sunday.

It comes as the Tories are facing a growing threat from the rising popularity of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, with the party winning four seats in last year’s general election, while polls suggest they could have their first ever group of MSPs following next year’s Scottish election.

A poll in March indicated Reform UK could win as many as 14 seats at Holyrood in the May 2026 vote.

Despite the growth in popularity of Reform, Mr Bowie, who served as an energy minister in the previous Conservative government, insisted his party should remain “authentic and true to ourselves”.

The Conservative MP told Holyrood magazine that Tories should respond to this challenge by “being authentic and true to ourselves, by not trying to out-Reform Reform, by not trying to appeal to the common denominator in terms of chasing the voter”.

He insisted that growing support for Reform was due to “disenchantment with politics as a whole, especially the established political parties in this country”.

And the West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine MP insisted: “We need to stick true to who we are as Conservatives, offer a pragmatic, sensible, liberal, Conservative vision of what the future can be in Scotland, and indeed the UK.”

He argued parties need to win “a broad coalition of support from across the country, from across age groups, demographics” to be successful.

Mr Bowie added: “We’re not going to achieve that, we’re not going to get that broad voter base, if we are purely focused on countering, responding to and aping Nigel Farage at every available opportunity, because nobody can out-Farage Farage, so why bother?”

He insisted it was “not true” to suggest the Tories had mimicked Reform by moving away from the UK’s target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 – a policy which Conservative UK leader Kemi Badenoch has insisted is “impossible”.

Mr Bowie, who is also his party’s acting shadow energy secretary at Westminster, insisted pursuing this goal could be “really damaging” for the UK.

He said: “Yes, of course, we need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. Yes, of course, that means investing in new technologies.

“But we need to do so in a way that’s sensible, pragmatic and actually delivers jobs and opportunities for the British people.”

A Scottish Conservative Party spokesperson said: “Andrew Bowie is right to recognise that the party has to change.

“That is what Russell Findlay promised to do and, as leader, he is doing exactly that.

“We will continue to unashamedly stand up for and promote the common-sense, conservative values of mainstream Scotland as we rebuild trust with voters.”