Nigel Farage is “not scared” of Scotland and will visit in due course despite dodging his party’s Perth conference, his deputy insists.
The Clacton MP was notable by his absence at the gathering of over 300 party members, which took place at the Fair City’s Royal George Hotel.
Mr Farage has not visited Scotland since becoming the leader of his party.
He has previously said he feels unsafe north of the border, having fled a barrage of abuse from protesters in Edinburgh in 2013 and seeking refuge in a police riot van.
Asked why he wasn’t at the conference, deputy leader Richard Tice said Mr Farage was not running scared and simply “could not be everywhere”.
He claimed his party would be a significant force at the “Holyrood thing” in 2026.
Mr Tice told The Courier: “Nigel will be here in due course.
“We’ve got 18 months until the Holyrood thing.
“We’ll be ramping it up and we’re going to make great progress.
“Nigel loves Scotland. Of course he’s not scared of Scotland.
“We are growing fast and there’s a lot going on.”
Scottish leader to be elected after Holyrood election
Party strategists revealed Mr Farage will captain Reform’s Scottish effort during the Holyrood elections, with a leader elected after the poll.
Sources said there was “no point” diluting Mr Farage’s “vote-winning” star-power as they explained why he would remain Reform’s figurehead for the Scottish campaign.
As well as winning over those who normally back the Scottish Conservatives, Mr Tice thinks his party could attract previous supporters of both Labour and the SNP.
He said: “The SNP are not very popular. Labour are not very popular across the whole country.
“People are looking for something different, something fresh and a bit of honesty about the challenges we face and how we’re going to stop the rot and get things moving.
“Let’s just remind ourselves, the economy is flatlining; debt is going up, and inflation’s going up.
“We’ve got some serious economic challenges and people think it’s just more of the same. Forget it.
“Things are going to change and that’s going to be the case across the whole of the UK.”
Polling has suggested Reform could pick up as many as 14 seats at the Scottish Parliament, potentially giving them significant influence over whether Labour or the SNP take power.
Mr Tice expressly ruled out backing SNP First Minister John Swinney for another term in government.
Asked about his thoughts on Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay, Mr Tice said he “neither knows nor cares” how he is performing.
Campaign group Perth Against Racism organised a counter-protest against the conference.
Organiser Cat Mackay said Mr Farage was a “s***ebag” for not attending.
Speakers addressing Reform Scotland members included Abertay University professor Stuart Waiton.
He founded the Scottish Education Union, which says it opposes the “indoctrination” of Scottish school pupils.
Mr Waiton railed against what he said was a move to a “therapeutic” system of education, such as teachers being taught that “raising their voices is child abuse”.
The sociology professor said: “If the next generation of kids knew who [English poet Geoffrey Chaucer] was; read Shakespeare and had a classical, subject based education; if we had or at least aspired to provide an Etonian education, if teachers were appointed who were experts in their subjects, in my opinion we would have the best workforce in the world.”
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