Nigel Farage's unveiling of Tory recruit turns sour after 'pathetic little man' comment

Nigel Farage's unveiling of a Tory defector turned sour when he was confronted with claims the new recruit was a "pathetic little man" who bullied a female staffer.

The Reform UK leader was told Graham Simpson, the first Scottish Conservative MSP to defect to Reform, allegedly apologised to a "young female member of staff for acting totally inappropriately, bullying and intimidating". Mr Farage dismissed the comment, while Mr Simpson said the claim was "absolutely untrue".

During the press conference in Scotland., a journalist told Mr Farage and Mr Simpson: "I'd like to read a comment from a Tory source: 'Graham Simpson is a pathetic, nasty little man who won't be missed. Just last year, he had to apologise to a young female member of staff for acting totally inappropriately, bullying and intimidating... The way he spoke to her was so bad that he was forced to sit down and say sorry in person. He'll be more trouble than he's worth for Reform.' Can I get both of your responses to that?"

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Mr Farage replied: "Well, that's not our judgment by any means, and we don't take people on unless we've done some pretty extensive research and found out that what nasty gossip there is about, what good stories are about them. And we are careful. We have to be. So note we are very, very happy that Graham has joined us. I look, you know, it's politics and people chuck abuse around the place. I mean, it's not exactly uncommon. It's been going on for some time."

Mr Simpson said: "And actually that's the kind of nastiness that I was alluding to earlier. Yeah. They've (the Scottish Tories) come out of the traps sooner than I thought." Pressed on the accuracy of the comment, Mr Simpson said: "Absolutely untrue. And, anything internally will be dealt with internally, and, so I'll leave it. But, you know, I certainly don't have a problem with women."

In more trouble for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, Mr Simpson has become Reform's first MSP with his defection, and he joined Mr Farage on stage in West Lothian. It comes after a series of Tory politicians switched to the party.

The former Tory frontbencher, Mr Simpson, was first elected to Holyrood in 2016. He said it had been a "wrench" to leave the party he joined at the age of 15. Speaking during the Reform event in Broxburn, Mr Simpson 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."

Mr Simpson admitted he has been "uneasy" with his decision to defect from the Scottish Conservatives, given he was elected on the regional list at Holyrood. At Holyrood, voters elect MSPs to both constituencies and regional lists, with votes in the regions being cast for a party rather than an individual.

Put to him that Central Scotland region voters backed the Tories rather than him personally, Mr Simpson said: "Absolutely, you're right. I was elected on the Conservative list, that's why I've been uneasy with this decision. I am uneasy with it, but the rules say that you can stay."

Earlier this year, former Tory chairman Sir Jake Berry became one of the latest to defect to Reform UK. He said the Conservatives had "lost their way". He was the latest in a string of Tory defectors, joining former Wales secretary David Jones, former minister Dame Andrea Jenkyns and others in jumping ship to Reform.

At the time, Ms Badenoch hit back at defectors like Sir Jake, accusing them of behaving "like they do in banana republics" and suggested they had "probably been holding us back for a long time" and were "welcome" to leave.

She said: "There are a lot of people who come into politics just to play the game of politics, and they will follow polls and defect wherever they can, like they do in banana republics, to wherever they think that they can win."

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