Richard Tice’s visit to a Glasgow chippie took a dramatic turn as he revealed two more former Scottish Conservative councilors had defected to Reform UK, pushing their numbers to seven in Scotland. While there, he lashed out at First Minister John Swinney’s claims that Reform was far-right and that its leader, Nigel Farage, was “fundamentally racist.”
Tice didn’t hold back, rejecting any suggestion that his party was aligned with Trump or Putin and insisting Reform could surge to 20% in the Scottish polls by summer. With a new slogan, “Drill, Scotland, Drill”, he promised to scrap net-zero policies, arguing they were costing jobs rather than creating them, reported lbc.co.uk.
The row comes after Swinney announced a summit on April 23 to tackle “the threat from the far right”, specifically naming Reform. He went as far as to accuse Farage of being “an accomplice to the Russian agenda and an apologist for the Russian agenda.” Invitations have already been accepted by figures from Scottish Labour, the Scottish Greens, and Alba.
Speaking to LBC, Tice dismissed the summit as a desperate move. “John Swinney of the SNP is terrified of us and making ridiculous, dark comments. Honestly, the simple fact is he’s a jealous juvenile. It’s pathetic.”
He doubled down, saying Reform’s rise in the polls was shaking up the political scene. “The Tories are toxic and finished in Scotland, and Labour is very concerned too. They’re basically a coalition of the terrified. They’re terrified that someone’s calling it out and saying, ‘this is wrong’. We’re the party of common sense. We’re the party that can make people better off.”
When asked how Reform planned to win seats in the 2026 Scottish elections with just seven councillors so far, Tice brushed off doubts. “Rome’s not built in a day. But if we’re so irrelevant, then why are they attacking us so aggressively? They’re scared. We’ve got thick skins, we can take it, but we’re going to win at the ballot box. And with proportional representation at Holyrood, if we keep going at this rate, we’re going to win a good number of seats. They’re also terrified we’ll be the kingmakers.”
SNP MSP George Adam fired back, saying, “Farage and Tice don’t have a clue about Scotland, never mind what’s going on in their own party. Their values are not Scotland’s values but pose a threat to our economy and most vulnerable in society.”
Tice also hit back at claims that Farage was soft on Putin, dismissing them as “juvenile garbage.” He pointed to his own support for Ukraine, “I’m the only senior politician in Scotland or Westminster who’s donated a five-figure sum, bought a 4×4 truck, filled it with medical supplies, drove it to Ukraine and stood with weeping mums over the graves of their sons.”
On Brexit, he argued the UK was in a stronger position, insisting, “Credit where it’s due, Keir Starmer has had a good week. But he’s actually using the benefits of Brexit to act as a bridge between the US and the EU.”
His campaign in Scotland will focus heavily on energy, vowing to scrap what he calls “net stupid zero.” When it was pointed out that Scotland’s green industry is contributing £9.1bn to the economy, he dismissed it. “A few thousand jobs in the green industry is nothing compared to the tens of thousands lost from shutting down oil and gas. We have huge energy resources under our feet, yet we’re paying the most expensive electricity bills in the developed world.”
His final message? “The lunacy of net stupid zero is destroying jobs and industry. I’ve got a simple slogan: Drill, Scotland, Drill. That’s how we make people better off.”
