Reform party chief Richard Tice is telling north-east voters he doesn’t care if his candidates let the SNP in – or if he scuppers Douglas Ross’s hopes to return to Westminster.
The former Brexit campaigner, who swapped leader roles with Nigel Farage during the general election, says the two front-runner parties both squandered power and took bad decisions.
“You can’t reward failure with more incumbency,” he told the P&J during a campaign visit to Scotland on Wednesday.
“The arrogant sense of entitlement that only the Conservative party own the principle and philosophy of the conservatism, that only they can compete with the SNP is just wrong.
“The Tories have betrayed us on immigration, taxes, Brexit, and are frankly weak.”
And on the SNP, he said: “They’re on the way down.”
Mr Tice was speaking at a hotel function suite near Grangemouth, a short distance from the major refinery on the Forth shore.
He wants to draw a clear line between Reform and other parties on the future of oil and gas.
He rails against “net zero” and says the UK must use its natural resources, not rely on imports.
“We’re poorer, we’re colder and the world’s got more CO2. Absolute muppets,” he said.
‘Bottle it’
Mr Tice said his party still bears scars of stepping back to help Tories under Boris Johnson in 2019.
He now needs to prove they won’t “bottle it” as some kind of Tory pressure group.
That means standing in every seat, including tight battles in the north-east.
One poll recently named Aberdeenshire North and Moray East as among the closest between Tories and SNP.
It’s being contested by Douglas Ross for the Conservatives, who was polling at 37.2% compared with SNP candidate Seamus Logan on 37.5%.
Reform was polling at 5.8%.
It’s also close in West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, contested by returning Tory Andrew Bowie at about 31%. His SNP challenger Glen Reynolds was less than one point higher in the polling, while reform had nearly 4%.
Gordon and Buchan looks more likely to become a Conservative gain, with the party about nine points clear. But Reform are polling around 7% there.
Challenging Mr Ross for Reform is former nurse and midwife Jo Hart.
She was so annoyed by politics she spoiled her ballot paper at the last election.
“It’s not just Conservative voters we’re picking up, it’s some SNP voters too,” she said.
‘Net zero’ slammed
Ms Hart was in the headlines last week after being linked to anti-monarchy comments on social media.
Asked about it, she rolled her eyes and said she was reflecting how people were struggling with jobs and livelihoods at the time of big spending on the Jubilee.
The party is also under pressure to explain how many candidates previously backed Scottish independence, including one in Dundee Central.
Mr Tice added: “They’re all wonderful, some of them are a bit more bullish than others on some of the things they might do and say.”
Reform UK is standing in all 57 seats in Scotland on July 4.
Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy said: “Richard Tice is happy to admit that any vote for Reform increases the chances of the SNP winning seats in the north-east, at the expense of the Scottish Conservatives.
“That may not bother him – and those Reform candidate who back independence – but it should alarm pro-UK voters in the north-east, who know that only the Scottish Conservatives will stand up for oil and gas jobs, and against the SNP’s independence obsession.”
The SNP was approached for comment.
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