Reform UK 'Scotland's third largest party with 10,000 members'
Nigel Farage's party issued a statement on Friday afternoon claiming that having 10,000 Scottish members was a 'milestone that cements the party's growing influence and deepening roots across the country'.
The SNP, Scotland's largest party, had 58,940 members as of December 31, 2024.
Scottish Labour numbers are not routinely published, but in 2021 the Daily Record reported that they had 16,467.
In April 2023, the Greens said they had 7646 members – but reported a 'surge' in membership the following year without giving details.
In September 2024, the Scottish Tory leadership election revealed that the party had 6941 members. At the time, reports said this meant the Alba Party had more members, with their accounts reporting 7507.
The Scottish LibDems had 4185 members in December 2020. Their 2023 accounts did not specify an updated number, but noted that 'membership figures continue to decline'.
Reform UK councillor Thomas Kerr, who defected from the Tories in January, said of his new parties' membership numbers: "This is just the beginning. Across Scotland, people are rejecting tired ideologies and career politicians who talk about change but deliver none.
'Reform is the voice of the people, clear, bold, and unapologetic in standing up for common sense, fairness, and freedom. The political class may sneer, hold summits, and call us names, but the voters are speaking louder, and we are listening."
In a release issued to media, Reform UK claimed: 'While the political elites resort to smear campaigns and tired 'anti-far right' theatre to distract from their own failures, the people of Scotland are seeing through it.
'Reform UK isn't extreme – we're the only party standing up for freedom, fairness, and the forgotten majority.'
Earlier this week, First Minister John Swinney had convened a summit in Glasgow to discuss how to tackle the rise of the far-right and Reform UK.
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