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RACE riots on the streets of Glasgow have put the rhetoric deployed by Reform UK under the microscope – and its focus is on Thomas Kerr, the party’s Scottish deputy leader.
His use of the word "strangers" to describe people making a new home in Scotland has been cited as an example of the kind of language which is “inciting racial hatred” in this country.
Challenged on this by reporters at Holyrood on Thursday, Kerr said: "I'm a working-class guy and I'll use the language I always use. I'm not going to try and change who I am."
But Kerr is not being truthful.
His use of “strangers” to characterise innocent people who have immigrated to Scotland is not the result of a working-class background. The suggestion is, in fact, deeply insulting.
Instead, Kerr’s rhetoric appears to be a deliberate attempt to sow division in Scottish society – a reading which his own public record supports.
The now-Reform politician has been in elected politics for nine years, and there is a long paper trail as a result.
But before 2026, there does not appear to be even a single example of him using the word “strangers” anywhere. Not on his Twitter account. Not on his Facebook account. Not in the columns he wrote for ConservativeHome. Not in the articles he penned for the Glasgow Times.
In his first eight years in elected politics, Kerr only used the singular “stranger” once, in a post about suicide prevention. “It's more important than ever to tell a friend, a loved one or a stranger that they are not alone,” he wrote in September 2020.
So, it appears he does understand the usual meaning of the word.
It is only in 2026 – coincidentally the year of the Scottish Parliament elections – that Kerr has begun calling New Scots “strangers”. Since February of this year, he has used it in 35 separate posts on his Twitter alone.
Like you, Glasgow's East End is my home. I'll always prioritise you over strangers. pic.twitter.com/6Ao5a0o0cX
— Thomas Kerr MSP (@ThomasKerrMSP) April 27, 2026
A cynic might say that was not a result of working-class upbringing, but a deliberate rhetorical choice from a career politician who couldn’t get into parliament as the liberal-style Tory he presented himself as for years.
Let’s not forget, after all, that Kerr used to argue for gender self-ID and that “trans rights are human rights”.
“I stand by every word of that and fully support reforming the Gender Recognition Act. I won’t be afraid to not toe the line,” he wrote in a Glasgow Times column in 2022.
To repeat, Kerr yesterday said: "I'm a working class guy and I'll use the language I always use. I'm not going to try and change who I am."
We put to Reform that Kerr was in fact more than happy to change who he is for his own political gain, highlighting his shifting support for trans rights as an example (let alone his Tory defection).
We also asked if Reform or Kerr could point to any time he had used the word “strangers” before January 2026.
A spokesperson for the party declined.
Instead, they launched a bizarre diatribe – something Reform supporters are wont to do – and insisted it be reflected in full.
It read: "Thomas Kerr was elected to rattle the cages of the establishment and given this comic books [sic] obsession with him, he appears to be doing exactly what Glasgow wants him to do.
"As for the press conference, it's a shame The National choose [sic] to stay at home that day or perhaps they could have asked these questions in person rather than jump on the back of others [sic] work.
"Reform will continue to fight for Scotland's forgotten working-class while ignoring fake news from Scotland's national embarrassment."
Name-calling is often what bullies do when they are caught out.
