Reform UK bids to oust drugs minister Maree Todd

Reform UK has said it will lodge a motion of no confidence in drugs minister Maree Todd.

This week statistics revealed an increase in drug-related deaths in Scotland.

Cases rose to 1,133 in 2025, with Todd – the minister for mental wellbeing, public health, sport, alcohol and drugs – calling the situation “unacceptable”.

At FMQs today, Malcolm Offord asked John Swinney if he was “ashamed” of the situation.

Swinney said the emergence of new synthetic drugs at the rate of one per week was complicating efforts to protect lives.

Now Offord’s party has said it will mount a challenge to Todd and ask MSPs to take part in a confidence vote.

In a social media post, the party said: “Reform is lodging a motion of no confidence in the minister for mental wellbeing, public health, sport, alcohol and drugs over the persistently high number of drug deaths in Scotland.”

For the motion to go forward, Reform UK will require the support of rival parties to achieve the minimum threshold of 25 MSPs in favour.

When asked about the likelihood of gaining cross-bench support, Reform UK deputy leader Thomas Kerr told STV that other parties are “singing from the same hymn sheet on the fact that this is Scotland’s national disgrace”.

He said: “This is an emergency. People are dying because of SNP policies so I’m hopeful that the opposition parties will unite behind us to say enough is enough, it’s time to put this minister out to pasture and make sure that we can deal with the issue.”

Responding to the drugs-deaths statistics on Wednesday, Todd said “much more” must be done even after policy interventions like the funding of more than 1,100 residential rehabilitation placements and widening access to treatment and naloxone.

She said: “My heartfelt condolences go out to everyone who has lost a loved one to drug use. Each and every death is a tragedy, and even more so because every life lost to drug harms is preventable.”