Russell Findlay: I don’t understand appeal of Nigel Farage

The leader of the Scottish Conservatives has said he does not understand the appeal of Nigel Farage.

Russell Findlay said it was “absolutely questionable” whether Reform UK was “even a party of the Union”.

Mr Findlay ruled out any deals with the right-wing party as he accused Mr Farage of helping to keep the SNP in power.

His comments came after Reform UK’s strong performance in this week’s local elections in England.

The party returned hundreds of councillors, an MP at a by-election and its first mayor.

Asked on BBC Scotland’s The Sunday Show if he understood the appeal of Mr Farage, Mr Findlay said: “Do I understand the appeal? No, I don’t.

“What I understand is why people, voters in Scotland and across the United Kingdom, feel disillusioned, they feel disconnected and left behind with politics.

“I’m not a career politician – I’m new at this. I’ve been doing this job for seven months.

“I completely understand why people feel that way, but Reform are not the answer in Scotland.”

Mr Findlay described the outcome of Thursday’s elections in England as a “terrible result” for his party.

“But let’s look at this in context that not a single vote was cast in Scotland,” he said.

“I’m the leader of the Scottish Conservative Party, and it’s my job to bring forward common sense, Conservative policies that people actually care about, and to try and address the issues that matter in people’s lives. That’s my focus.”

He added: “What we’ve seen from Reform, from Nigel Farage’s own mouth, is he would be quite comfortable putting an SNP first minister into Bute House.

“Many of their candidates are nationalists. It’s absolutely questionable whether they’re even a party of the Union.”

Mr Farage said in an interview last month that he was not “worried about the SNP”, which he said would “have a resurgence”, but ruled out any deal with Labour at Holyrood.

Mr Findlay, who took over from Douglas Ross as Scottish Tory leader last year, said he was “not interested in doing any form of deal with Reform or any other party that would support the SNP or support splitting up the UK.”

He said UK Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is “absolutely the right person for the job” to rebuild after inheriting “this lack of trust, this disconnect” with voters.

He added: “Last year, just a short time ago, we lost a general election in a very, very bad way – it was a very, very poor result for us.

“Kemi and I both understand that and that’s why we are both working hard to rebuild trust, to understand what people want us to focus on and getting on with delivering.”

Reform UK Glasgow councillor Thomas Kerr said: “Russell Findlay doesn’t understand the appeal of Nigel Farage. That’s the problem, not the answer.

“If you can’t understand why millions of ordinary people admire a man who stood up to the establishment, won a national referendum, and speaks plainly about the issues others tiptoe around then maybe you’re not listening to the public, you’re just talking at them.

“We’re not in this to win Mr Findlay’s approval. We’re speaking to the voters he and the rest of the Holyrood club have ignored for years, the working men and women who’ve been fleeced, patronised and shut out of politics by old worn-out parties clinging to each other for relevance

“The Scottish Conservatives now sound like they’re campaigning for the BBC, not the people.”

Mr Kerr said the idea that Reform would help put the SNP into power was “fantasy politics”.

He added: “What terrifies the Tories is that we might actually replace them.

“Political loyalty isn’t a football strip, you’re allowed to change your mind.

“Russell Findlay says Reform are nationalists. The SNP say we’re unionists. They both cling to this tired binary because it protects the status quo, where they take turns failing everyone in Scotland.

“Yes, some people who once voted for independence now support Reform, and they’re welcome. Not because they’ve swapped sides, but because they’ve seen that neither the SNP, Labour nor the Tories have delivered. It’s not about flags or feelings. It’s about the future.

“Reform is building a movement that puts community, country and common sense first.

“If that unsettles the old parties and their pretendy Parliament bubble, then good. It’s time for a reset, not another rerun of the same old rivalry while people struggle to heat their homes.

“If Reform Scotland is so irrelevant, why do the Conservatives spend so much time talking about us?”

“If we’re nothing to worry about, maybe spend less time on TV talking about us and more time explaining why your own voters are deserting you in droves.”