Reform MSP Quits, Leaving Party Third at Holyrood
Amanda Bland, MSP for Central Scotland and Lothians West, has left Reform UK Scotland to sit as an independent, relegating the party to the third-largest group at Holyrood, one seat behind Labour. She said her “principles and priorities remain unchanged” and gave no further reason.
A Reform UK source told BBC Scotland that Bland was “very difficult to work with” and had been summoned to a meeting on Wednesday about high staff turnover in her office; she said her resignation was not linked to it. Bland, a member of the criminal justice committee, said she could best hold the Scottish government to account as an independent. Losing second place costs Reform standing in Holyrood’s set-piece exchanges, and comes as the party faces scrutiny elsewhere, including a BBC report that one of its mayors is being investigated over photographs.