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Reform UK leader Nigel Farage during a visit to The Big Club in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, after Reform made gains against both Labour and the Conservatives across England in local polls, May 2, 2025
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REFORM UK’s gains in last week’s local elections south of the border are “good news” for the SNP and bad for Scottish Tories and Labour ahead of next year’s Holyrood elections, according to polling sage Professor Sir John Curtice.
Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland today, the Strathclyde University psephologist argued that the electoral success of Nigel Farage’s party, which gained 600 seats and control of 10 councils in England last week, would cost Labour and the Tories north of the border, further securing the SNP’s position as the biggest party.
He told the programme there was “no reason to disbelieve” opinion polls predicting Reform were on course to win as many as a dozen seats in Holyrood next May, adding: “I think the message from down south on Thursday is bad news for Anas Sarwar. It’s bad news for the Scottish Conservatives.
