A senior member of the Reform UK party in Scotland has left the party after it emerged his father was a senior UVF member and that his cousin was convicted of the sectarian murder of a schoolboy.
Craig Campbell, reported as the Scottish organiser for the Nigel Farage-led party, departed following an investigation into his family links to loyalist paramilitaries.
The 52-year-old, who was born in Northern Ireland, is the son of the late William Campbell, convicted in 1979 along with brother, Colin, of bomb attacks on the Clelland Bar and Old Barns pub in Glasgow. Campbell senior was described at the time as the commander of the UVF in Scotland.
His cousin, Jason, was convicted in 1996 of the murder of 16-year-old Celtic fan Mark Scott. Campbell, freed in 2011, ran up to the teenager, shouted sectarian abuse and slashed his throat. The fatal attack led to the formation of the anti-sectarianism charity, Nil by Mouth.
Lest We Forget...
— BattalionOfTheDead (@BtnOfTheDead) July 15, 2015
U.V.F. Commander Bill Campbell.
Ulster Volunteer Force, Scotland.
Died 1997 pic.twitter.com/M70ebDbgom
A spokesman for Reform UK Scotland said: “Craig Campbell is no longer a Reform UK Scotland organiser or member.
“Reform UK Scotland will not tolerate discrimination of anyone in any form.”
Commentators have noted Reform UK’s increased support in Scotland, with the party winning seven per cent of the vote in the country’s in July’s UK general election.
There is speculation the party may secure as many as 10 seats in the Scottish parliament in the 2026 Holyrood election.
William Campbell, who died of natural causes in 1997, is memorialised in both the north and Scotland.
