Swinney and Sarwar ‘terrified’ of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK’s rise in the polls, Tice claims

Support for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK could hit 20% by the summer, the party’s deputy leader has said as he accused John Swinney of being “terrified” of such growth.

Richard Tice – who is visiting Scotland on Thursday to announce two councillors have defected to his party – said Reform UK has “almost got more members now in Scotland than the Labour Party”.

Polls across the UK suggest Reform is now more popular than Labour, while in Scotland it could have enough support to win its first ever group of MSPs at Holyrood in next May’s election.

Describing Reform UK as “the new kids on the block”, Tice claimed First Minister Swinney and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar fear the party’s growth.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme, the Boston and Skegness MP said: “We’re going up in the polls, I think you’re going to see us by the summer around 20%.

“We’ve almost got more members now in Scotland than the Labour Party.

“I think that’s the reason why John Swinney and the Labour Party, Anas Sarwar, are terrified.”

His comments came after Swinney recently said he wants to “lock out” Reform from Holyrood.

Condemning the “bigotry that Farage represents”, the First Minister claimed the Reform UK leader is “fundamentally racist”.

Tice however insisted the SNP leader is “wrong” and is “being juvenile because he is terrified”.

He claimed: “I think desperate people throw out silly, juvenile slogans.

“At the end of the day, trust the electorate, and the reason we are going up in the polls is because our policies are the policies that will make people better off.”

Insisting his party has “got some bold policies that can turn around the Scottish economy”, Tice said Reform will fight next May’s election with specific Scottish policies.

But he added: “What works for Scotland also works the rest of the United Kingdom.

“We will be standing everywhere and obviously we would like to win as many as possible.

“Who knows where that will be, but Scotland is lucky enough to enjoy a proportional representation system.”

He added: “We are going up in the polls because many people in Scotland realise that Scotland needs new, fresh drive and courage and honesty about how we make people in Scotland better off.”