David McLennan is standing for Reform in the Bathgate seat on Thursday and also claimed that Muslims will “take over” the UK by 2050
A Reform candidate has come under fire for seemingly promoting bizarre conspiracy theories, including the notion that billionaire Bill Gates is involved in a global plot to cull human populations using vapour trails from aeroplanes.
David McLennan, a Reform councillor standing for the right-wing party in Scotland’s Bathgate, also appears to have made inflammatory comments about Muslims, warning that they will “take over” the UK and claiming that Islam is a “threat”. A social media post from two years ago suggests that McLennan subscribes to the debunked “chemtrails” conspiracy theory, which posits that high-altitude planes are secretly spraying chemical or biological agents to control the weather or population.
Proponents of this theory, which has been widely discredited, claim that these sprays contain substances that can modify the weather or control the population, reports the Daily Record. McLennan has specifically implicated Gates and the annual gathering of global leaders at Davos in this supposed plot.
In a 2024 post, McLennan responded to claims of unnamed forces spraying “hard” from the skies in Kansas, USA, saying: “I’m in Scotland and you can SE [sic] the vapour trails across the blue canvas slowly, surely, definitely turn into clouds to hide the sun. Gates and Davos are trying to cull the global population.”
McLennan has also made divisive comments on social media, writing in June last year: “I’m white. Christian (though not practicing) ..and worried.
“I’m seeing the fabric of our society changing before my eyes. Specifically the threat from Islam. The spread of the Qu’uran , the fear of any female coming home alone. Is it just me?”
Around the same time, he also wrote: “Wake up guys, they’re here to take over. By 2050, this could be a Muslim country..”
In response, Scottish Labour Deputy Leader Jackie Baillie said: “Lord Offord and Reform have welcomed crank conspiracy theorists with open arms, but Scotland deserves better.
“It is clearer than ever that Reform is nothing but a distraction in this election and the only party that can deliver change is Scottish Labour.”
Scottish Greens spokesperson for Net-Zero, Patrick Harvie, also reacted: “Another day, another Reform candidate pushing conspiracy theories. It shows once again exactly what kind of people Reform are putting forward for Parliament.
“Scotland deserves serious representatives who will stand up for communities, tackle poverty and protect public services. Instead Reform is offering candidates who believe in nonsense like chemtrails and population conspiracies, fronted by a leader who boasts about his extreme wealth during a cost of living crisis.
“It doesn’t matter how many times Nigel Farage rebrands, from UKIP to Brexit to Reform. The truth is that he’s just reheating the same old far-right politics that have been rejected by Scotland time and time again.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Conservatives commented: “This crank is just the latest Reform candidate to have their murky past exposed.
“Reform are in disarray. They can’t be trusted to stand up to the SNP and John Swinney’s push for another independence referendum.”
McLennan, a former landlord, stated in 2024 that Reform UK are a “landlords’ party” that will assist owners in reclaiming their properties.
He also criticised the abolition of no-fault evictions south of the border – despite skyrocketing levels of homelessness.
The Daily Record contacted Reform for comment.