AN MSP branded a “pathetic, nasty little man” and a bully has ditched the Tories to become Reform’s first Holyrood member.

Graham Simpson, elected as a Tory MSP on the Central regional list after a 26-year stint working for Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, announced his defection today.

He said: “I watched Reform with interest and I see the opportunity to help create something fresh here in Scotland.”

The man who joined the Tories at the age of 15, and went on to serve as a Tory MSP for eight years, added:  “The political class is not serving the people well.

“Failure is accepted and change takes far too long.”

Alongside him sat his new leader, Nigel Farage, who insisted there had been “no backroom deal” to install as leader the man whose claims of “no go areas” in a 2017 Holyrood debate led the SNP to accuse him of echoing Donald Trump.

Mr Farage said: “We will, of course, have a leader of our group, who will go in as a leader of our group and be a potential first minister.

“We are a work in progress, we’re growing. We’re probably an advanced teenager now, we haven’t got to full maturity as a political party and as I said about a moment ago, we have 200 candidates over the weekend being interviewed.”

Within minutes of the announcement, however, allegations of misconduct surfaced from a Tory Party source, who said: “Graham Simpson is a pathetic, nasty little man who won’t be missed.

“Just last year, he had to apologise to a young female member of staff for acting in a totally inappropriate, bullying and intimidating way towards her.

“The way he spoke to her was so bad that he was forced to sit down and say sorry in person. He’ll be more trouble than he’s worth for Reform.”

Mr Simpson called the allegations “absolutely untrue,” but another Tory source added: “He’s lying.”

Eyeing the spectacle, outgoing Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie described Mr Simpson’s defection as “desperate opportunism,” while Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie commented: “Yet another lifelong Tory has decided to flee their sinking ship in a bid to save their own career. 

“It’s clear that Reform are simply Tories by another name.”