Three former Tory councillors have joined Reform UK after Nigel Farage urged them to defect to the party.

       Two are in Scotland, making them the party’s first elected politicians north of the Border.

       It comes after Mr Farage wrote to Tory county councillors up for re-election next year urging them to jump ship.

       In the letter issued on Wednesday, he warned of the “risk they face” by remaining in the Tory fold and said the offer to defect was a “lifeline.”

       Jaymey McIvor, a county councillor in Essex, became the first Tory councillor to defect to Reform UK since Mr Farage issued his letter.

       He posted on X, formerly Twitter: “It is an honour to represent my community and serve the people of Ontario and its beautiful surrounding Essex villages.

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       “In order to continue to do so to the highest standard, I’m delighted to announce I have joined Reform UK. It’s time to save Britain.”

       Reform said the subsequent decision by Mark Findlater and Laurie Carnie, who both sit on Aberdeenshire Council, demonstrated that “the Tory brand is broken” across the UK.

       Mr Findlater, a former Aberdeenshire Council leader, announced earlier this month that he had quit as vice-chair of the Banff and Buchan Conservatives and resigned from the party.

       He told The Telegraph he was “really fed up with the way things were going” in the Tories and “I cannot see the Scottish Conservatives changing their ways”.

       He added: “I feel that Reform is the way forward.”

       Although he described Russell Findlay, the new Scottish Tory leader, as a “cracking guy”, he said: “Everything needs to change [in the Scottish Tories], the whole structure, and I cannot see that happening.”

       Mr Findlater said he was also unhappy at the treatment of David Duguid, who was controversially replaced by Douglas Ross as the general election candidate for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East.

       The then Scottish Tory leader lost the seat to the SNP and Mr Duguid, the incumbent MP, has since insisted he would have won it from his hospital bed despite being seriously ill.

       A party spokesman said: “In less than 24 hours we have seen three councillors join Reform, both leaving the Tory party. The latest two today just go to show that the Tory brand is broken not just in England but across the United Kingdom.

       “Scotland has been failed by Labour and the SNP for decades and the Scottish Tories have been utterly dismal in their opposition.

       “This is just the start for Reform, we plan to campaign hard in the run-up to the Holyrood election in 2026 and win seats right across Scotland.”

       The departures of Cllr Findlater and Cllr Carnie is an early challenge for Mr Findlay, who has vowed to win back voters who deserted the Conservatives for Reform in July’s general election.

       After winning the leadership last month, he reached out to Scots who are “scunnered” with the mainstream parties, saying he understood their frustration and pledging to earn their trust.

       Mr Farage’s party won seven per cent of the popular vote in Scotland, despite holding only one press event, and is predicted to win seats at Holyrood in 2026.

       Most of its support came from the Scottish Tories, whose vote share nearly halved to only 12.7 per cent, its worst-ever performance.