The SNP has sharply criticised Nigel Farage and his Reform UK party after it emerged that plans for Scotland’s next election manifesto are being drafted from Westminster.
Job adverts published this week reveal that Reform UK is hiring two new political advisers to help shape its strategy for the 2026 Holyrood elections, but both positions are based in London, not Scotland.
Despite the roles being described as an opportunity to ‘shape Scotland’s future’, the party is choosing to do so from hundreds of miles away, with no base in Scotland and no local representation in the Scottish Parliament.
Kenneth Gibson MSP called the decision deeply revealing, saying it exposed just how disconnected Farage and his politics are from the lived realities of Scottish voters.
“Decisions for Scotland are best made in Scotland,” he said.
“With the SNP, that’s guaranteed.”
Gibson said the move from Reform UK mirrored a long-standing pattern of parties based in Westminster misunderstanding or simply ignoring Scottish priorities.
“Nigel Farage knows nothing about what’s good for Scotland,” he said.
“His politics couldn’t be more out of touch with the people of Scotland’s priorities and values.”
He added that the idea of writing Scottish policy from a desk in London demonstrated a deep lack of understanding or perhaps even interest in what matters to voters north of the border.
“By thinking that policy for Scotland can be dictated from hundreds of miles away in London, Farage is making all the same mistakes that all the other Westminster-based parties have made for decades.”
Reform UK, which has no seats at Holyrood and has yet to outline a coherent platform for Scotland, appears set to enter the 2026 election with proposals developed far from the communities they seek to influence.
For the SNP, it is yet another reminder of why constitutional change remains central to Scotland’s future.
“It is only with the full powers of independence that Scotland can finally be free from being told what to do by politicians in London with little understanding of Scotland’s needs, values and priorities,” said Gibson.
The criticism lands at a moment when questions around local decision-making, democratic accountability and Scotland’s constitutional direction remain front and centre.
With no Scottish base and manifesto authors working out of Westminster, Reform UK is being accused of writing for a country it does not yet understand.
