Meeting of the Parliament 21 May 2026 [Draft]
As this is my maiden speech, I start with a thank you to the people of Glasgow for sending me here. It is the honour of my life to represent the communities of the place that I am proud to call home, and I pledge that I will do all that I can to deliver for my city and to do those people who sent me here proud. I know that having this speech, of all speeches, as my maiden speech is rather unconventional, but what is it that they say? Start as you mean to go on. Although it is customary for maiden speeches to be heard without interruption, most MSPs in the chamber know that I always welcome a bit of audience participation, so I hope that they do not disappoint.
Speaking of disappointment, I welcome the First Minister to his post. Fair play—he fought the election saying that he wanted a historic mandate and he achieved that, so, on behalf of Reform Scotland, I congratulate him and his party on their victory.
Yesterday, Scotland was presented with what John Swinney described as a new Government. After looking carefully at the line-up, I must say that the SNP has achieved something remarkable: it has managed to reshuffle the deck chairs without changing the direction of the ship. After nearly two decades in power, the SNP no longer resembles a Government with ambition. The First Minister is back in office, but let us not kid ourselves—the enthusiasm that Scotland holds for his Government is abysmally low. Indeed, the SNP was re-elected on a record low vote share—2 million Scots did not vote—and the majority of voters wanted change, with a bigger turnout for parties that are against the First Minister’s separatist agenda.
Yesterday’s Cabinet announcement was sold to the country as renewal, but what exactly has been renewed? After years of bloated bureaucracy, endless quangos, vanity projects and constitutional obsession, the SNP Cabinet suddenly want Scotland to believe that they are born-again reformers. The public are not fools.
Let me examine this new, fresh team. I start by welcoming Scotland’s new Cabinet Secretary for Education, Culture and Gaelic to her place. Although developers and house providers across the country will heave a sigh of relief, Scotland’s teachers and pupils will be hiding under a desk. I fear that world leaders will no longer be calling the Scottish education secretary asking for advice; indeed, she might want to redial and ask for some herself, given the Government’s record on schools.
We also have the ever fresh-faced new Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Tourism and Transport, who I suspect is already planning his £2 bus fare journey straight into the First Minister’s job. However, given the length of an SNP transport secretary’s service these days, I suspect that he might come to regret that poisoned chalice being handed to him by the First Minister.
The new Government could play out like a reality TV show or a classic comedy. We have seen Neil Gray and Angela Constance play job swap, while the country goes back to the future with Shirley-Anne Somerville in the social justice portfolio. My ultimate favourite is how the First Minister has us reliving an episode of “Yes Minister”, because only in John Swinney’s Scotland could a bid to cut Government bureaucracy start by creating a brand-new Government post: the cabinet secretary for administrative affairs—sorry, I mean the Cabinet Secretary for Public Sector Reform—Ivan McKee. That move has set up a battle royale between the reforming cabinet secretary and the rest. He will want to save money, and every other cabinet secretary will want to spend it. The First Minister will no doubt need to mediate every fight, so it is no wonder that he has kept the constitution for himself for some slight relief. On a serious note, I and Reform Scotland genuinely welcome Mr McKee to his post, and I wish him well as he tries to fix the mess that his party has created.
Reform Scotland has arrived in this chamber and, given the slimmed-down Cabinet, it appears that our ideas and values now sit in the Scottish Government. We said during the election that we must focus on the day job and stop wasting time on reserved matters, and the First Minister has abolished the energy and constitution portfolios from the Cabinet. We said that we need to cut Government waste, have a bonfire of the quangos and put economic growth first, and a new department has been created.
However, as is normal with the SNP, the devil will be in the detail. Rhetoric is easy; delivery is hard. If this Government has genuine proposals to make Scotland more prosperous, cut tax, invest in enterprise and prioritise Scots over strangers, we will support them.
Sadly, given the parliamentary arithmetic and the large bloc led by the Bearsden Che Guevara, I fear that that is unlikely. Instead, Reform will play our part and be a constructive but effective Opposition.
We will not oppose for the sake of opposing. [Interruption.] I seem to have upset people. We will not challenge for the sake of challenging but, unlike those other parties in Opposition, we will not remain silent either. Reform is not in this chamber to make pals with the cosy establishment; we are here to oppose them. We are here to be the voice for Scotland’s forgotten communities the length and breadth of this country, who each and every one of you has failed and left behind. Those are the people who sent us here and those are who we will fight for in this Parliament.
At decision time, Reform will not endorse the appointments of this tired and knackered Cabinet. Scotland does not need another recycled Government pretending to be revolutionary; what Scotland needs is seriousness, competence, accountability and a Government willing to focus relentlessly on jobs, schools, hospitals, policing, infrastructure, energy and economic growth. That is the standard that Reform UK Scotland will continue to demand in the chamber.
After nearly 20 years of SNP Government, the central question that faces the Parliament is no longer who can deliver independence. The real question is who can deliver competence. On the evidence that is before us, the SNP has failed yet again to provide an answer.