Reform deputy leader, Richard Tice in Glasgow

'Floundering' Reform UK chief fails to know names of new Scottish defectors amid Glasgow chaos

Richard Tice has been accused of “floundered under basic questioning” after failed to know the names of two Scottish councillors that have defected to his Reform UK party from the Conservatives.
The deputy leader of Reform UK has been accused of “floundering” after he was unable to name two councillor defectors he had come to Glasgow to announce.

Richard Tice visited the Val D’oro chip shop in Glasgow as it was announced Ross Lambie from South Lanarkshire Council and John Gray from Renfrewshire Council have joined the party run by Nigel Farage as defections from the Scottish Conservatives.

But asked what his new colleagues' full names were and what local authorities they represented, all Mr Tice could tell journalists was “John and Ross”.

The gaffe came as Mr Tice set out his opposition to what he called “net stupid zero” and repeated his slogan of “drill Scotland drill”, claiming that Scots were being “conned” over the need to tackle the climate crisis as he vowed to take the Scottish economy back to the 1980s and 1990s.

Read more: How Nigel Farage's Reform UK aims to lob a grenade into Scottish politics

But Mr Tice’s visit and announcement was overshadowed by his failure to know the full names of his new colleagues and what local authorities they represented.

Asked “who are your defectors and what councils are they from”, Mr Tice said: “We’ve got John and Ross”.

Pressed repeatedly for his new recruits’ full name and council area, all Mr Tice could say over and over was “John and Ross”.

He added: “We’ve got 10,000 members. I don’t know all 10,000 members. What we have got is policies that will make people better off in Scotland.”

A Scottish Conservative spokesman said it was “an embarrassing moment for Reform’s deputy leader”.

He added: “You would expect him to have these names etched in his brain, yet he has floundered under basic questioning.”

Mr Tice pointed to the 1980s and 1990s when he said “we had a great oil and gas industry in Scotland”.

He added: “You had highly skilled, highly paid jobs. Those are being destroyed in their tens of thousands.

“We’re the only developed nation that has the incredible luxury of huge amounts of energy treasure under our feet and we’re being stupid enough not to use it. We’re calling out this nonsense.

“Net zero is going to be the key thing at the next general election and we plan to win it. The good people of Scotland realise they’re being conned, they're being lied to, they're being misled - and it’s an outrage. We’re going to take them on.

“That’s why Swinney and co are so absolutely terrified - because they know we’ve got the momentum, we’re going to make people in Scotland better off, we’re going to ensure that people are more prosperous and that’s what we want. “

The vast majority of scientists agree that cutting harmful emissions will curb the rise of global temperatures and is the only cred