Malcolm Offord, the leader of Reform UK in Scotland, has declared details of his extensive property and investments portfolio which confirm him as one of the wealthiest members of the Scottish parliament.
In its register of interests he lists homes in Scotland, England and South Africa worth nearly £6 million, as well as shareholdings valued at up to £5m.
His wealth became an election issue when he declared in an STV debate that he owned six houses, six boats and five cars, prompting Ross Greer, co-leader of the Scottish Greens, to say the country needed “fewer people like you”.
Since taking his place in the parliament, Mr Offord has decided to donate his MSP salary to good causes through his charity, the Badenoch Trust.
Filings lodged at the Scottish parliament show the most expensive of his five homes is a flat in the Kensington & Chelsea area of London, valued at about £1.8m.
Other properties are in Argyll & Bute (worth up to £1.6m), the Isle of Wight (£1.3m), Inverclyde £100k-£200k), and Cape Town, South Africa (£1m), which he rents out. There were no details on a sixth home.
He was raised in Greenock and studied law at Edinburgh University before moving to London where he made his money in the banking and investment sector.
He was handed a life peerage by Boris Johnson only five years ago, but resigned the House of Lords in January after defecting to Reform. However, he retains the title Baron Offord of Garvel.
He became an MSP in the May elections through the list system and has been a regular critic of immigrants being given priority housing in Glasgow over local people. He continues to call for a change in the rules.
His declaration of interests, reported by The Times, provides details of shareholdings across a number of businesses, including Fife-based Cashmaster (Holdings), the investment group Badenoch & Co, whisky maker The Borders Distillery Company. Other shareholdings are below the threshold for registration with the parliament.
While the Greens lead criticism of his personal wealth, Mr Offord has been credited for becoming a self-made millionaire that sets an example for others.
During the TV debate in April he said: “I went to London 40 years ago with £2,000 in debt, full of ambition and I worked hard and became successful.
“Today I own six houses, five cars and six boats. In a 40-year business career I have employed hundreds of thousands of people and paid £45m in tax. I don’t say that to boast, I ask you this question, Mr Greer, in your Scotland do you want more people like me, or fewer people like me.”
Mr Greer, nicknamed the “Bearsden bolshevik”, responded: “Fewer people like you. I’m glad you finally admitted how many homes you have, Lord Offord.
“There are three times as many empty homes and holiday homes in Scotland as there homeless children. “You don’t need six homes. You don’t even need two homes. Everybody just needs a home to live in.”
In a subsequent interview with Daily Business, he said his reference to creating “hundreds of thousands” of jobs was a slip of the tongue and he should have said “thousands”. He declined to say how much he was worth.
Regarding his statement during the TV interview, he said his intention “was to make the point that others could see his rags-to-riches story as an example to follow and that wealth and success can be achieved by anyone who works hard, rather than relying on the state.”
While Mr Offord’s personal fortune makes him one of the wealthiest MSPs, others also have significant fortunes. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar ‘s exact wealth has been largely unclear but is tied to his family’s wholesale business, United Wholesale (Scotland).
His quarter share was valued several years ago at between £2.7m and £4.8m. He transferred this to a discretionary trust for his children in 2017, removing personal access.
However, his household has benefited from dividends, with his wife Furheen receiving around £40,000 annually, totaling nearly £300,000 since the transfer.
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