Nigel Farage sought to dent rising Tory morale last night by unveiling Reform UK’s latest defection from Kemi Badenoch’s party – a leading Conservative peer and party donor.
Mr Farage announced that Baron Offord of Garvel had now joined his party – giving Reform its first member of the House of Lords.
But last night, it was revealed that Lord Offord is set to quit the Lords within weeks to stand as a Reform candidate for the Scottish Parliament next May.
The move comes just days after three former Tory MPs, including ex-party deputy chairman Jonathan Gullis, also crossed over to Reform.
And last night, Mr Farage said he was ‘delighted’ to welcome Lord Offord, a former Minister in the Scotland Office, to the party.
He saluted the peer for taking a ‘brave and historic act’, adding that he would ‘take Reform UK Scotland to a new level’.
Speaking at a Reform rally in Falkirk, where his change of party was announced, Lord Garvel himself accused his former party of ‘giving up’ on Scotland.
And in statement released by the party, he added: ‘I am delighted to join Reform UK Scotland.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage (right) at the MacDonald Inchyra Hotel & Spa in Falkirk, with Lord Malcolm Offord
‘We have an important election coming up in May next year.
“Scotland is crying out for a centre-right narrative to make the country prosperous once again.
‘Scotland needs Reform and Reform is coming to Scotland.’
Last night, Reform sources taunted the Tories over Lord Offord’s defection, saying: ‘This is going to hurt – he’s a close friend of Kemi Badenoch.’
The Scottish-born financier, who was made a life peer by Boris Johnson in 2021, served as a Scotland Office Minister between 2021 and 2024.
And in the run-up to the last general election, he also served as Exports Minister in the Department for Business and Trade when Tory leader Mrs Badenoch was Business Secretary.
He was also a Shadow Energy Minister in the Lords until his move yesterday.
But the defection by Lord Offord, who was made a life peer by Boris Johnson in 2021, will be felt all the more as he has previously donated over £100,000 to the Tories and was the serving treasurer for the Scottish Conservatives.
It also follows dire polling research leaked from Tory HQ which warned that the party would be reduced to just 14 seats if an election was held last month, with Reform storming into power with a 46-seat Commons majority.
Mr Farage’s party currently has just five MPs.
However, Lord Offord’s move comes with Tory MPs voicing increasing confidence in Mrs Badenoch’s performance – not least her combative response to Rachel Reeves’s Budget last month.
It also comes amid suggestions that although Reform is still well ahead of both Labour and the Tories, it may be peaking in the polls.
And at last night, one senior Tory MP told the Mail on Sunday: ‘He’s making a mistake.
‘Under Kemi, the Tories are on the up.
‘You can see that on the doorstep.
‘But then as a member of the House of Lords, he wouldn’t know – he probably doesn’t get out on the doorstep very much!’
However, another Tory MP privately conceded that Lord Offord’s defection ‘was a kick in the b***s’ for the Tories.
Separately, it emerged last night that Mr Farage will launch a legal challenge over the Government’s decision to delay mayoral elections in May.
The Government has blamed the delay on local councils in areas including Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, needing more time to merge ahead of new mayoral elections.
But Mr Farage told the Telegraph that his party was ‘actively pursuing a judicial review action against the Government over yet another attempt to delay elections where they fear Reform will win.’
