Nigel Farage gets his first MSP as Scottish Tory defects to Reform UK
Graham Simpson has been an MSP for 9 years
Nigel Farage's Reform UK party has its first MSP at Holyrood with a high-profile defection from the Scottish Tories.
Graham Simpson, who has been a regional MSP for Central Scotland since 2016, was unveiled at a media conference in Broxburn.
Addressing the decision to leave the party he joined at the age of 15, Graham Simpson said it was a "wrench" following a lot of what he called "soul searching" in recent weeks.
He said : "It's fair to say that some of you won't be surprised to see me here, given that the Scottish Tories have been touting my name as a potential defector for months now.
"So today, I'm giving them what they want, but perhaps not for the reasons that they think.
"Leaving the party that I first joined when I was 15 is an enormous wrench, and I've been through a lot of soul searching in the past few weeks."
The defection will increase the pressure on Scottish Tory leader Russell FIndlay less than a week after another of his former MSPs, Jeremy Balfour, announced he would sit as an independent at Holyrood saying the party had
"fallen into the trap of reactionary politics".
'Change taking too long'
Graham Simpson said he had decided earlier this year not to stand again for the Scottish Tories, but it was not until the past few weeks he had chosen to move to Reform UK.
"I watched Reform with interest and I see the opportunity to help create something fresh here in Scotland, and it's clear that the voters agree in increasing numbers."
"Save for some fine individual MSPs across parties, the political class is not serving the people well.
"Failure is accepted and change takes far too long."
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