Nigel Farage is set to visit Scotland ahead of an all-important by-election where Reform UK could be poised to beat the SNP and Labour.
The Reform leader is expected to visit Hamilton Larkhall and Stonehouse before the June 5 vote to replace local former MSP and Scottish government minister Christina McKelvie, who died in March this year.
Deputy leader Richard Tice visited the constituency on Sunday last week and told local press he believed his party could beat the SNP and had the momentum following a stellar results in the May local elections in England. This will be Mr Farage’s first campaign trip to Scotland since 2019 when he visted an event for the Brexit party.
In 2013, the then-Brexit party leader visited Edinburgh and was locked in a pub on the Royal Mile by police for his own safety and later rescued by a riot van after a protest by independence supporters.
Mr Farage’s planned visit comes as Reform UK took seven per cent of the Scottish vote in last year’s general election. Recent polling suggests support for the party among Hamilton Larkhall and Stonehouse voters has also increased, at the expense of the Conservatives and Labour.
Party leaders have been making their pitches as campaigning enters its final full week. SNP leader and First Minister John Swinney said his government was “putting money back in people’s pockets” after scrapping peak rail fares. The move is expected to save commuters nearly £1000.
The main destination for passengers travelling to or from Hamilton Central is Glasgow Central. Currently, an anytime day return costs £9.20 while an off-peak day return is £6. Glasgow Central is also the main destination station for passengers travelling to or from Larkhall. An anytime day return from there is £11.20 and an off peak return is £7.70.
The decision to scrap peak rail fares from September means someone commuting five days a week from Hamilton Central to Glasgow Central could save more than £760 a year from September, the SNP said. The party said the same communte from Larkhall station would be £910 cheaper.
SNP by-election candidate Katy Loudon said: “Too many households in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse have borne the brunt of the cost of living crisis, with the UK Labour government presiding over rampant inflation and soaring energy bills. In Scotland, the SNP is bringing costs down for people, with policies like free bus travel for 2.3 million people, bringing back the winter fuel payment and scrapping peak rail fares.
“The Labour Party has lost its way, but this SNP government is delivering on what matters to you.”
Labour came second in the seat in the 2021 election but have had a challenging campaign following a number of policy decisions made by Keir Starmer in Westminster. They include the decision to end universal winter fuel payments and cuts to welfare benefits. Last week the Prime Minister said he would restore winter fuel payments to some pensioners.
In May, Reform UK’s Sarah Pochin won the Runcorn and Helsby by-election by just six votes, in an astounding victory amid a wider earthquake in local English politics. The race was the only parliamentary seat up for grabs at the 2025 local elections, after the Cheshire seat was vacated by Labour’s Mike Amesbury, who had won the seat with 53 per cent of the vote and a large margin. Amesbury resigned the seat after pleading guilty to assault in January for punching one of his constituents.
