Reform most disliked party in Scotland, pollsters find

Reform UK is the most disliked party in Scotland, polling has found.

Research from the Scottish Election Study suggests Nigel Farage’s party is disliked by more than two-fifths of Scots.

As part of its February Scoop survey with YouGov, Scots were asked to choose the party they most disliked.

Some 41% chose Reform UK Scotland, more than double the SNP on 19%.

Some 16% of voters said they did not feel strongly about any of the main parties, while 13% opted for the Tories, 7% for Labour and 5% for the Greens. Only 1% chose the Liberal Democrats.

Asked the opposite question, 24% said they did not feel strongly about any party, 23% chose the SNP, while 12% chose Reform and the Greens.

11% opted for Labour, while the Tories and Lib Dems both sat at 9%.

Reform UK Scotland, led by former Tory minister Malcolm Offord, has been polling in second or third place at Holyrood at about 16-22%.

The February Scoop poll found that six in 10 voters (61%) would likely never vote for Reform, putting the party above the Conservatives on 52%, the Greens on 41%, the SNP on 38% and, Labour on 35%, and the Liberal Democrats on 31%.

Professor Ailsa Henderson, the principal investigator for the Scottish Election Study, said the findings show Reform has now “leapfrogged” the Tories as the party voters say they would never vote for.

Professor Henderson said there were “opportunities” for Reform to attract voters who may want to “disrupt” the “status quo”, along with the increasing concern around immigration in Scotland.

But she said the party faced challenges around a “hostility” to devolution, with Reform supporters more likely than any party to support the abolition of Holyrood, and a hostility towards the EU.

The Scottish part of Reform also faced constraints over its UK leader, Nigel Farage, who she said was the least popular party leader in Scotland.

Going into the Holyrood election this May, she predicted turnout would be low compared to 2021.

She added: “We think that tactical voting is high and that we aren’t yet able to capture it because people haven’t yet made up their minds about how they’re going to vote.

“We believe that that is going to be directed predominantly at the SNP but also that there will be significant anti-Reform tactical voting.

“It’s clear that Reform, by the (propensity to vote) measures and by the most disliked party measures, is the least popular party.”

Reform UK has been approached for comment.