Thomas Kerr - MSP for Glasgow (Region) | Reform Watch

Profile and accountability tracker for Thomas Kerr, MSP for Glasgow (Region). Reform UK.

Role: MSP for Glasgow (Region)

Party: Reform UK

Thomas Kerr has been a Reform UK Member of the Scottish Parliament for Glasgow since May 2026 and serves as the party’s deputy leader in Scotland. He was first elected as a Conservative councillor for Shettleston on Glasgow City Council in 2017 and later led the council’s Conservative group. He stood for the Conservatives in the 2023 Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election before joining Reform UK in January 2025. He continues to hold his council seat alongside his MSP role. At Holyrood he serves as Reform UK’s shadow deputy first minister. Sources: https://www.parliament.scot/msps/current-and-previous-msps/thomas-kerr; https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/article/1737/Councillor-Thomas-Kerr; https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy48p5132qno

Recorded incidents (showing 1-3 of 3)

Thomas Jordan Kerr promoted a motion presented as a burqa ban

Category: racism

Thomas Jordan Kerr promoted a motion calling for the Scottish Government to assess the potential benefits of introducing further restrictions on full-face coverings in public places and presented the proposal as a ban on the burqa on social media. He used an image showing women wearing niqabs on X and posted an Instagram caption stating Scotland needs to ban the burqa while promoting the motion. Campaigners and women's groups said the motion would effectively criminalise Muslim women's clothing and organised a protest at the Scottish Parliament, accusing Kerr of using the veneer of women's rights to stoke division and harm. The motion itself notes police already have powers to require removal of face coverings in certain circumstances and the Scottish Government says existing powers are sufficient.

Thomas Kerr described Govanhill as a ghetto

Category: racism

Thomas Jordan Kerr (MSP) described the Govanhill area as a ghetto during a speech at Holyrood and criticised multiculturalism and integration, saying the neighbourhood had become associated with daytime drug dealing, child exploitation, illegal migration and street gangs. He shared a video of the speech on X and Reform's social channels circulated the clip. Glasgow East MP John Grady condemned Kerr's remarks and defended Govanhill's diversity, saying such comments risk sowing division; Grady also addressed what he described as an implied reference to Glasgow MSP Holly Bruce. Kerr's post remained on social media and no party disciplinary action or formal sanction was reported in the sources consulted, though the comments drew criticism from local figures.

Thomas Kerr laughed during a Holyrood speech about the Edinburgh anti-Muslim attacks

Category: inflammatory language

During the first Reform-led debate of the new Scottish Parliament, Labour MSP Daniel Johnson accused Thomas Kerr of laughing while he spoke about the attacks in Edinburgh on 19 June 2026, which wounded five people and were allegedly motivated by Islamophobia. Kerr admitted laughing but said it was at Johnson's "pathetic fake outrage". At First Minister's Questions the next day, John Swinney called him an "absolute disgrace" and accused him of trivialising the attacks.

Sources: https://www.thenational.scot/news/26228543.john-swinney-says-reform-msp-trivialised-edinburgh-terror-attacks/ https://www.thenational.scot/news/26227061.reform-msp-thomas-kerr-responds-laughing-terror-attacks-claim/