It’s instructive to hear from The National that Farage will front the party’s election campaign in 2026. Of course he will.

This tells us two things: the first is one we knew already, that at the heart of the far-right populists is enormous ego; the second is that the idea that Reform UK might have a Scottish dimension or autonomy is ridiculous. Reform is Farage’s personal plaything, which he owns and controls wholly. It’s not even a political party in any real sense. But we knew that. The announcement is bound to be considered a political gift for the forces for independence, and a dark harbinger for the Scottish Conservatives, who are already seeing their vote being hacked into by Reform.