Scottish Labour has become Holyrood’s second-largest party after Amanda Bland resigned from Reform UK and said she would sit as an independent MSP. Bland represents Central Scotland and Lothians West and has not publicly explained her decision.
Reform confirmed that Bland had left its parliamentary group and urged her to resign her regional seat so the next Reform candidate on the list could take it. The party said it remained a united team and questioned Bland’s decision to sit alone.
The change overturns the result of the May 7 Scottish Parliament election, when Labour and Reform each won 17 seats behind the SNP’s 58. Reform now has 16 MSPs, while Labour is the only party with 17 and therefore becomes the chamber’s clear second force.
The shift also changes the opposition arrangements at first minister’s questions. Malcolm Offord, Reform’s Scottish leader, is expected to lose the right to be the first opposition leader called every other week, a position that had been shared because Labour and Reform were tied.
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie welcomed the change and said her party would focus on challenging the SNP and improving outcomes in Scotland. Reform’s loss comes after another elected representative, Sarah Cooper-Lesadd, left the party in the Welsh Senedd last month to join Plaid Cymru. A separate tracker has recorded 63 Reform councillors elected in May who have since resigned, been suspended or left the party.