Reform’s first Scottish leader has quit the party after being suspended over a right-wing social media group.
As revealed by the Sunday Mail Michelle Ballantyne was acting as an administrator of an unauthorised Facebook group which contained racist and extreme content.
Ballantyne insisted she had remained inactive on the group and had not exercised any administrative rights but after our story she was suspended from Nigel Farage’s party and summoned to a disciplinary hearing.
In a lengthy post on the same group last night Ballantyne announced she was quitting the party due to a “witch hunt” against her.
In a scathing letter to the party’s senior figures, she said she had been treated with “rudeness and dishonesty” and accused them of “lies and hype”.
Ballantyne, a former Tory MSP and one-time Tory leadership contender, quit the Conservatives before being announced as Reform’s Scottish leader in early 2021. She then stood down from the top job to focus on a multi-million pound house restoration project.
Ballantyne wrote: “I received an email from Reform telling me my membership has been suspended.
“Reform advised they were convening a disciplinary panel as they are accusing me of bringing Reform into disrepute for not preventing posts on this site.
“Having kept my council for months in the light of this witch hunt I have cancelled my membership…I no longer recognise the party I helped start in Scotland.”
Ballantyne revealed the contents of a letter she sent to Reform chiefs.
It contained claims that several months ago Nigel Farage personally had told a fellow member she “wasn’t welcome in Reform”.
She wrote: “To be honest I am tired of the lies and hype around the democratisation of the Reform party because to this day there is no application to the Electoral Commission pending, and no changes have been made to companies’ houses.
“You appear to be running an operation to silence anybody who questions anything, seeing them as the enemy and not critical friends…
“Well all I can say is well done, you have got rid of me as a member, supporter and probably a voter.
“I am of no importance but if you keep treating people the way you are in Scotland you will mess up an enormous opportunity to do some good and you will condemn us to years more of nationalist domination and failed policy in all walks of life.”
Reform has been contacted for comment.
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