Farage to increase Scottish visits for Reform campaign

Nigel Farage will have "much more" of a presence in Scotland as Reform UK ramps up its election campaign.

The party had huge success in Thursday's local elections in England, gaining more than 600 seats and winning control of 10 local authorities, while also winning the Westminster by-election for Runcorn and Helsby.

Thomas Kerr, a Reform councillor in Glasgow who defected from the Tories in January, told the BBC the party wants to capitalise on that momentum - with leader Farage at the forefront.

Reform are being forecast in several polls to do well in next year's Holyrood elections, and win their first MSPs.

Farage told Sunday newspapers that he would be in Scotland a lot more in the coming months, ahead of the June by-election for the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse seat.

The party does not have a Scottish leader.

Kerr said: "You will certainly see Nigel Farage much more up here in Scotland – he is very excited about the opportunity we have, he is looking forward to being on the streets of Scotland and taking our message to people."

Last week's English election results have sent shockwaves through Westminster - and the significance of Reform UK's surge south of the border hasn't escaped Holyrood's politicians either.

But the truth is, the main parties here have long been concerned about the possible impact of Nigel Farage's party.

Reform took 7% of the Scottish vote in last year's general election, while recent polling suggests increasing support among the electorate - most notably at the potential expense of the Conservatives and Labour.

An imminent byelection in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse could be an early test of whether or not the party can convert opinion poll backing into real votes.

A previous visit by Farage in 2013 - when he was leader of his previous party Ukip - saw him confronted by protestors and escorted away by police.

However Reform's average result across Scotland from almost 30 recent local by-elections has been over 12% of the vote - which would be enough to secure seats in the Scottish Parliament if replicated in the Holyrood election.

A gathering of political and civic leaders led by the first minister John Swinney to discuss protecting democratic values and social media misinformation was seen by some as a response to Reform's growing popularity.

The by-election for the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse seat is taking place on 5 June and is happening due to the death of the SNP's Christina McKelvie in March.

Kerr said it would be "a tough gig for Reform" and third place would be the party's target but that he believed overall momentum was now shifting towards the party.

He cited the party's strong performance in the general election in Scotland - with 24% of the vote in Fraserburgh and in a Glasgow seat - as evidence of this trend.

The comments came as Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar called on his party to go "further and faster" in government in response to Thursday's results.

Local results in England saw Labour's vote share fall to its lowest level since 2008.

In his first comments since Thursday, Sarwar told the BBC's Sunday Show people "needed to feel like their lives were improving" under the party, who took power at Westminster last July.

He said: "You have to go further and faster on improving people's lives. You have to deliver on election promises further and faster."

The Scottish Labour leader also told the programme he believed the UK government need "to tell a more positive story about what the destination is for the country with a Labour government" after several months marked by rows over cuts to the winter fuel payment for the elderly and changes to disability benefits.

Sarwar reiterated he personally disagreed with the decision to scrap the winter fuel payment.

Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay told the same programme he didn't understand the appeal of Farage, and questioned whether Reform was a Unionist party.