NIGEL Farage fronting the Reform UK campaign in the upcoming Holyrood elections shows Scotland is becoming a “bigger priority” for the party, according to a leading political scientist.
Professor John Curtice told the Sunday National that while Farage’s party was becoming more popular in Scotland, it risked exposing its “weaknesses” in putting him up for the TV debates.
It comes as the Sunday National reveals that Farage will front Reform's Scottish Parliament election campaign in 2026.
Unless he decides to double-job or quit his hard-fought Clacton seat, the Reform leader cannot lead the party in the Scottish Parliament.
A party insider told the Sunday National that if as predicted the party picks up seats at next year’s election, their cohort of MSPs will choose a leader out of their number after the poll – leaving Farage (above) in charge for now.
Curtice, the country’s most trusted elections guru, said that it would be a “challenge” for Reform if their representative in the TV debates is not running for Holyrood.
The “big prize” for Reform is Wales, though they are becoming more interested in Scotland, he added.
Curtice said: “The risk is that it underlines Reform’s rather English orientation.”
Reform consistently perform better in UK-wide polls versus Scotland-specific surveys, with one in 10 backing them for their constituency vote in a recent poll.
The research, by FindOutNow for The Herald On Sunday, also showed that they could get 13% in the regional vote, putting them in the region of winning nine Holyrood seats.
But analysis of other recent polls has suggested the party may win as many as 16.
Curtice said: “Their support is rising north of the Border in a similar fashion to the way it is south of the Border.
"You can certainly see how Scotland now becomes a bigger priority for them than it otherwise would have been but Wales is going to be the bigger priority.”
On Farage fronting the Scottish TV debates, Curtice added: “I can understand why they’re doing what they’re doing but in doing what they are doing, it reveals some of their potential weaknesses.
“Reform are going to appeal to a niche market, the point is that Farage will be relatively popular with that niche market but it won’t make it easier to reach beyond that niche market.”
