Nigel Farage: Ukip now targeting Holyrood seats

UKIP leader Nigel Farage says capturing seats at Holyrood is now a “realistic objective” although he accepts the party won’t have any Scottish wins in next week’s UK election.

Ukip leader Nigel Farage is surrounded media and supporters during a visit to Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. Picture: PA

Mr Farage said its a “great myth” that Scottish attitudes to immigration and Europe are any different from the rest of the UK.

The party caused a shock when it returned a Scottish MEP in last year’s Euro elections.

“We’re going to be fighting virtually every single seat in Scotland, there are one or two in the Highlands where it’s not easy to organise but virtually every single seat in Scotland will be standing,” Mr Farage has said in an interview with ITV’s Tonight show to be broadcast this evening.

“I see the general election in Scotland as a staging post building on winning a seat in the European Parliament, but really getting ready for the Scottish parliamentary elections.”

He added: “As a building block to winning seats in the Scottish parliament that is a completely realistic objective.”

This would be “in the distance”, according to the Ukip leader who also admitted that the party’s hopes of winning a seat next week in Scotland are “pretty remote.”

Almost two-thirds of Scots think immigration should be reduced, a recent YouGov poll found, suggesting that Scots are almost as negative about immigration as the population in the rest of Britain.

Mr Farage added: “There is this great myth that Scottish people have a different view on Europe and immigration to British people, I was looking at some polling evidence recently, the margins aren’t that great, it’s really very interesting that Scottish views are not that different.”