Third Reform UK candidate in Scotland found to have backed independence

Reform UK chairman Richard Tice - LEE THOMAS

A third Reform UK candidate in Scotland has admitted voting for independence in the 2014 referendum amid warnings the party will help the SNP win seats in next week’s election.

Kris Callander, the Reform candidate in Gordon and Buchan, Aberdeenshire, said he had not always been a “hardline Unionist” as he had backed separation in the referendum.

His disclosure came after Richard Tice, the party chairman, admitted he did not know how many of its candidates in Scotland backed independence.

He said Reform had been let down by its vetting company after a series of disclosures about candidates with extreme views, including one who praised as “brilliant” Hitler’s ability to “inspire people into action”.

It previously emerged that David Kirkwood, the party’s deputy chairman in Scotland and a candidate in a Tory-held seat, voted SNP in every election until 2019 and backed independence in the 2014 referendum.

He is standing in Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, the seat being defended by Tory David Mundell, the former Scottish Secretary.

The Courier also reported that a candidate in Dundee, Vicky McCann, previously supported independence and claimed the 2014 referendum was “corrupt” to prevent a Yes vote.

But a tracker poll published by Redfield and Wilton Strategies said support for Reform in Scotland had doubled to eight per cent since the start of this month.

Nigel Farage’s party appeared to have benefited from a collapse in support for the Tories, who polled at only 11 per cent, down six points.

Labour had 38 per cent support, down one point, while support for the SNP was up three points to 32 per cent.

Gordon and Buchan is a Tory-held seat that the SNP is targeting. The Conservatives have warned that Mr Callander standing for Reform will split the Right-wing vote and risk an SNP victory.

Reform candidate Kris Callander

Asked on BBC Radio Scotland whether his party could be “flexible” on independence, he said: “I think we’re very much part of the UK, and we see Scotland as part of the UK.

“I say that as someone who voted for independence in 2014. So it’s not like I’ve always been a hard-line Unionist on this matter.”

Douglas Lumsden, the Scottish Tory North East MSP, said: “Pro-UK voters will be dismayed by this astonishing admission from Reform’s candidate in Gordon and Buchan.

“It is clear that in key seats like Gordon and Buchan and up and down Scotland, Reform have put forward candidates without any idea of their views or voting history.”

The SNP is predicted next week to lose more than half the 48 seats it won in the 2019 election to a resurgent Labour party.

But the Tories warned that Reform’s presence could help the SNP win Conservative-held constituencies in Scotland, boosting the Nationalists’ seat tally.

First Minister John Swinney has said he will demand the next UK Government allows another independence referendum if the SNP wins 29 seats, a majority of the 57 being contested in Scotland following boundary changes.

Meghan Gallacher, the Scottish Tory deputy leader, said: “There is a real risk that just a few votes for Reform could hand several seats to the SNP, which John Swinney would use to try and demand independence.”

Pollster Mark Diffley tweeted: “That’s the third poll this week to have Reform at eight per cent.

“If that’s right nationally, then it’s likely to be higher in Tory/SNP marginals in the north-east which could help the SNP offset some of the seats they’ll lose to Labour in the Central Belt.”

Reform UK was approached for comment.

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