7 days ago
Farage flies in for Hamilton, Larkhall & Stonehouse by-election visit ahead of polling day
The Reform leader visited Larkhall with candidate Ross Lambie but an expected walkabout in Hamilton did not take place
Nigel Farage arrived in Larkhall for a much-heralded campaign visit as the leaders of all three main parties battling out the Hamilton, Larkhall & Stonehouse by-election made their final appeals to voters ahead of Thursday's polling day.
The Reform leader had a drink with locals at the Central Bar on Union Street and visited neighbouring businesses including a butcher and florist as he campaigned alongside candidate Ross Lambie and deputy party leader Richard Tice, with the trio later visiting their headquarters in Hamilton.
Chaotic scenes developed in the town centre as Mr Farage did not appear for a planned walkabout and press call in Hamilton, while groups of Reform supporters and protesters then clashed in vocal and angry arguments outside the Quarry Street office with the party leader having already departed.
Reform candidate Ross Lambie, a Clydesdale councillor, shared images of the Larkhall visit on social media and called it a 'great day on the campaign trail', posting on Facebook and X: 'Absolute pleasure to show Nigel around Larkhall for a pint of Tennents, a visit to the fruit n veg shop and the award-winning Strachan's craft butchers.'
'We then popped into to the Hamilton campaign office and visited Raeburn brick factory in Hamilton – the last in Scotland, suffering under crippling energy prices' which he attributed to 'Net Zero madness'.
Mr Lambie added: 'The buzz on the streets of Larkhall was epic. For the first time in 18 years they have some hope of real change with Reform.'
Mr Farage had earlier told a press conference in Aberdeen that a Reform win in Thursday's Holyrood by-election would be 'the biggest earthquake Scottish politics has probably ever seen', saying: 'Are we confident of coming third? Yes. Are we confident of coming second? Well, I don't know. If we do, it'll be a very nice surprise.' He later told The Times during the Larkhall visit: 'Can we come a good second? I believe we can.'
Speaking in Aberdeen, he said: 'Do I realistically think we can win? Well, if we do, then that will be the biggest earthquake Scottish politics has probably ever seen. You never know. On a low turnout election with a disenchanted electorate, I guess it's not impossible, but I think it's improbable.'
Asked about Reform's widely-criticised campaign adverts incorrectly stating that Anas Sarwar would 'prioritise the Pakistani community' and cutting to a speech by the Labour leader in which he does not make that statement, he said: 'We don't talk about race at all, we think everybody should be treated equally. We object very strongly to the segmentation of people into different types.'
The social media adverts were described as 'blatantly racist' by both Labour and the SNP, and the opposing groups clashing in Hamilton town centre on Monday afternoon included protestors displaying 'no to racism' banners.
First minister John Swinney of the SNP and Labour counterpart Mr Sarwar were also in the constituency on the same day, respectively visiting Juniors play cafe in Hamilton and launching a campaign vehicle in support of their candidates Katy Loudon and Davy Russell.
The intensive final week of campaigning has also seen visits from deputy first minister Kate Forbes and deputy prime minister Angela Rayner; while both party leaders have this week written open letters to voters seeking their support in the hotly-contested Holyrood race.
Mr Swinney told supporters at a Hamilton rally on Saturday: 'Farage's rise at this moment is because of the profound disappointment that people feel in the Westminster Labour government, whose first act when they came into office was to take Winter Fuel Payments away from pensioners in our community.
'We are the party of hope in this election, and what the people of Hamilton, Larkhall & Stonehouse face on Thursday is a very simple choice.
'The Labour campaign is collapsing. They are out of it. Their candidate and their campaign cannot be a champion for this community. Farage is a real threat – do not underestimate the scale of the threat that Farage poses in this election.
'The only way the people of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse can be confident that they will be voting for hope is by voting for the Scottish National Party to stop Farage and to vote for a better Scotland and a better future.'
Mr Sarwar told constituents: 'This by-election is a two-horse race between Scottish Labour and the SNP. Reform can't win here and the SNP don't deserve to win here' – and invited voters to support 'one of your own, Davy Russell, a local champion that will fight every minute of every day for you'.
He added: 'Reform have tried every dirty trick in the book to drive a wedge through this community. [They] have spent thousands of pounds spreading bile, misinformation and racial slurs.'
Visiting Hamilton last week, Ms Rayner called criticism of the Labour candidate's campaign performance – including declining to take part in a TV debate – 'absolutely classist' and said: 'He's a hard grafter and he doesn't deserve to be treated in that way, in a classist way, but I am sure he is going to prove them all wrong.'
The final days of campaigning also saw Scottish Socialist candidate Collette Bradley criticise prime minister Sir Keir Starmer's announcement in Glasgow of new increased defence spending plans, calling 'the declaration of a war economy' and 'an outrageous choice of priorities'.
She said: 'The £15 billion thrown at manufacturers of ever more deadly weapons and nuclear annihilation far exceeds the (maximum) £3.5bn cost of scrapping the two-child benefit cap, the £1.5bn to restore universal winter fuel payments to all pensioners, or the £5bn Labour wants to rob off sick and disabled people.'
Meanwhile, Green candidate Ann McGuinness held a rally in Stonehouse and community meetings in Larkhall 'without the pomp of Nigel Farage's private jet trip', and said: 'We said we would fight a grassroots campaign with our local branch as the driving force – making the Scottish Greens a visible force in an area we have not stood in before has been the most important aspect of this campaign.'
The full list of 10 candidates in the Hamilton, Larkhall & Stonehouse by-election is: Collette Bradley (Scottish Socialist Party); Andy Brady (Scottish Family Party); Ross Lambie (Reform); Katy Loudon (SNP); Janice MacKay (UKIP); Ann McGuinness (Green); Aisha Mir (Liberal Democrats); Richard Nelson (Conservative); Davy Russell (Labour); and Marc Wilkinson (independent).
