Campaign 'hate' storm as Swinney says he believes Nigel Farage is a 'racist'
The final weekend of by-election campaigning in Hamilton has descended into a bitter war of words as John Swinney branded Nigel Farage a racist.
In a speech to SNP activists today ahead of the critical vote on Thursday, the First Minister accused the Reform UK leader of bringing ‘racism and hatred right into the heart’ of the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse community, adding: ‘It is repugnant and we are going to stand up to it every way we can.’
Asked by reporters after the rally if he believed Mr Farage was ‘a racist’, Mr Swinney emphatically responded: ‘Yes’.
Pushed on whether he had any concern that branding Mr Farage a racist could prompt a defamation action, the First Minister responded: ‘No.’
He added: ‘He’s the leader of his party, he is responsible, I’m responsible for everything the SNP does.’
However, a spokesman for Reform hit out that Mr Swinney was ‘losing the argument’ by going ‘for the man and not the ball’.
He added that the SNP were in a ‘tailspin’ ahead of Nigel Farage’s visit to Scotland next week.
The row broke out on the tense final weekend of campaigning ahead of the by-election vote on Thursday, prompted by the death of Nationalist MSP Christina McKelvie.
Nigek Farage has been embroiled in a bitter war of words with Scottish Labour's Anas Sarwar
Asked by reporters after the rally if he believed Mr Farage was ‘a racist’, Mr Swinney said: ‘Yes’
Although no official polling has been carried out on the ground for the vote, national surveys ahead of the Holyrood elections for 2026 show that Reform is making inroads with the Scottish electorate.
A poll last month found that Reform could become the main opposition party next year, with 21 per cent of the popular vote.
Although Nicola Sturgeon had previously asserted on the campaign trail that the race would be between the SNP and Labour, Mr Swinney notably shifted that message in the final days of campaigning.
In a letter to voters via a daily newspaper, he appeared to place Reform as the Nationalists’ main rival and said: ‘If you want to beat Reform, the only way to stop them is to vote SNP.’
Speaking today, Mr Swinney said Scottish Labour were ‘out’ of the race.
He told supporters: ‘We are the party of hope in Scotland. And what the people of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse face on Thursday is a very simple choice.
‘The Labour Party campaign is collapsing. They are out of it....Farage is a real threat. Do not underestimate the scale of the threat that Farage poses in this election.’
Mr Farage, who will be in Scotland on Monday has been accused of ‘introducing poison into our politics’ after his party became embroiled in a race row with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar at the beginning of last week.
Mr Sarwar has accused Mr Farage of being a ‘clear and present danger to our country’
An election advert by Reform used an old clip of Mr Sarwar at a Pakistani Independence Day dinner in 2022 and suggested he had said that he would prioritise Pakistani people.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer accused Reform of ‘manipulation’ of the clip of Mr Sarwar, and said Mr Farage was trying to create a ‘toxic divide’. Labour, whose candidate is former roads apprentice Davy Russell, has been warning voters that Reform cannot defeat the SNP and will instead help them win.
In another open letter to voters in the Daily Record today, Mr Sarwar claimed that the race is a ‘straight contest’ between his party and Reform, accusing Mr Farage of being a ‘clear and present danger to our country’.
He also accused Mr Swinney of using Reform as a ‘mask for his failure’ and criticised the campaign run by Mr Farage’s party.
He wrote: ‘Throughout this by-election campaign, Reform have tried every dirty trick in the book to drive a wedge to divide this community – but I know you will see right through it.’
He added: ‘Nigel Farage is a poisonous, pathetic and toxic little man that doesn’t understand this community or our country.
‘He and his cronies in Reform have spent thousands of pounds spreading bile, misinformation and racial slurs.
‘Scotland is my home. I was born here.’
