Malcolm Offord said Reform UK was “just behind the curve” in Scotland compared to England after being elected as a West Scotland regional MSP.
The Reform UK candidate secured a seat through the regional list system at Friday’s Scottish Parliament election count at Braehead Arena.
Speaking to reporters in Renfrew at the end of the West Scotland regional declaration, Offord said: “There’s a whole movement in the UK clearly and Reform has been further ahead in England.
“Two years ago we had something like five per cent of the vote, now we’ve got ourselves up to 15 per cent plus.
“We’ve got a good block of MSPs going to Holyrood starting on Monday and that gives us a good block of MSPs to get in and that’s the start of our movement here in Scotland.”
Offord said Reform UK would act as an opposition voice at Holyrood.
He said: “We will very much be our own voice here. We’re going to have to scrutinise this government.
“We already know there’s a £5 billion black hole looming. This is going to be a real test of economics for this parliament.”
Offord, who previously sat in the House of Lords before joining Reform UK after defecting from the Conservatives in 2025, admitted disappointment after finishing third in his constituency contest but said the party’s main objective had been regional representation.
He said: “I’m a proud Gourock man and obviously I wanted to win my constituency, but I know that was a tall order because it’s an SNP heartland.
“Yes of course I’m disappointed to come third, but the objective was always frankly to get good list representation and we’ve done that today.”
Offord also criticised party leaders who left the count before the final declaration.
He said: “Personally that’s disrespectful.
“I’m here till the end because we recognise that the voters all came to the polls and all the people who have been counting the votes have had a very long day.
“It’s the least thing I could do is wait till the end and I’m glad to have done that.”
He added that Reform UK’s Scottish election performance represented “a pretty good effort” for what he described as a young party.