Thomas Jordan Kerr (born 1996) is a Scottish politician serving as a Reform UK councillor for Shettleston on Glasgow City Council. He was originally elected in 2017 as a Scottish Conservative and served as the party's group leader on the council from 2019 until his defection to Reform UK in 2025,becoming the party’s first councillor in Glasgow.
Kerr was born in 1996.[2] His mother Debra had struggled with heroin misuse prior to his birth,and so he lived with his grandparents,Margaret and Thomas,whilst he attended primary school.[2][3] He lived with his mother again after she recovered,but when she relapsed,he stayed with his aunt Elaine before staying with his grandparents again.[3] Kerr said he had an "on-off" relationship with his father Billy,who left when he was young and was a member of the Orange Order.[2][3] His father also struggled with heroin addiction and died in 2016 at the age of 43 from drug-related causes.[2]
Kerr first unsuccessfully stood for Glasgow Shettleston in the 2016 Scottish Parliament election.[4] He was elected as a councillor for Shettleston in the 2017 Glasgow City Council election and became the deputy leader of the Scottish Conservative group on the council.[5][6] In May 2019,Kerr was elected leader of the group following David Meikle's resignation amid a controversy involving his wife,former SNP politician Natalie McGarry,who was convicted of embezzlement.[6] This made Kerr,the youngest leader of a council group in Scotland.[6]
In January 2025,he defected to Reform UK,becoming the party's first councillor in Glasgow.[12] Kerr stated that the Conservatives were overly focused on criticising the SNP and "lacked a positive vision of centre-right conservatism".[12] He added that Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay lacked control of the "broken" party.[12] Findlay said the defection was "very disappointing".[12] According to Holyrood,a Conservative Party source indicated that Kerr's defection was influenced by the prospect of being placed at the top of Reform UK's Glasgow list in the upcoming Scottish Parliament election.[3]
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