Scottish Reform leader Malcolm Offord 'owns six houses, six boats and five cars'

The leader of Reform UK in Scotland has said he owns six houses, six boats and five cars.

The revelations about Lord Malcolm Offord emerged during the final debate programme of the Scottish election on STV on Tuesday night.

The former Conservative minister made the claim during a fiery interaction with Scottish Green co-leader Ross Greer, adding he didn’t mean to “boast”.

“Mr Greer, I was born in a tenement at 33 Bank Street in Greenock, and back then Scottish education was the best in the UK, and I got it all for free”, he said.

Lord Offord looked down at the podium as Ross Greer responded to his statement. STV News

“I went to London 40 years ago with £2,000 of debt. Full of ambition, I worked hard and I was successful.

“Today, I own six houses, five cars and six boats.

“In a 40-year business career, I’ve employed hundreds of thousands of people and paid £45m in tax.

“I don’t say that to boast, but to ask you this question, Mr Greer, in your Scotland, do you want more people like me, or fewer people like me?”

Amid laughter from other panellists, Greer responded immediately: “Fewer people like you.”

Malcolm Offord, Ross Greer, Russell Findlay, Colin Mackay, John Swinney, Anas Sarwar, Alex Cole-Hamilton. Stewart Attwood/STV

“I’m glad you’ve finally admitted how many homes you have, Lord Offord,” Greer added.

“I think it’s worth at this point in the debate pointing out that there are three times as many holiday homes and properties in this country as there are homeless children.

“You don’t need six homes, you don’t even need two homes, everyone just needs a home to live in.

“Surely if we’re to tackle the housing emergency, the super super-rich elite individuals like you should be giving up some of those homes so people who desperately need a roof over their head actually have somewhere to live.”

Offord went on to claim the Green manifesto was “extremist”, arguing it aimed to “legalise drugs, abolish prisons, open borders for all comers – except of course for the English”.

He went on to say the Green’s version of Scotland offered “the land of milk and honey” and “everything was free”.

Greer replied: “Because we would tax people like you to pay for it.”

Following the debate, the Scottish Greens announced an “Offord tax” – which they said is to “discourage a small number of super-rich individuals from hoarding so many extra homes”.

The party said the policy would build on the Additional Dwelling Supplement tax, which applies when buying a second or holiday home anywhere in Scotland.

The “Offord tax” would act as a “multiplier”, meaning that the rate paid would increase for every additional property bought, the Greens said.

On a post on the social media platform X, Lord Offord said: “I want Scotland to be rich. The other parties do not. It’s as simple as that.”

Leaders from the Scottish Conservatives, Scottish Greens, Scottish Labour, Scottish Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party all took part in the STV debate live from the Signet Library in Edinburgh.

First Minister John Swinney said that overwhelming support for his party on May 7 would act as a referendum to put “Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands”.

Scottish Conservatives leader Russell Findlay took aim at the SNP for “broken public services” and the impact of “sky-high taxes” and urged the voting public to prove Swinney “wrong” next week.

Labour’s Anas Sarwar said next week gives people the chance to reject the “poison” of the SNP and promised to fix the NHS and give Scotland’s children all “a chance to succeed”.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton claimed “it feels like things aren’t working” in the country and promised to “deliver change with fairness at its heart”.