THE newly-formed Reclaim Party has its first candidate standing in the Scottish Parliament, former Scottish Comedian of the Year Leo Kearse.

Kearse, who describes himself as a "right-wing liberal comedian", will be standing against Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf in the Glasgow Pollok constituency as well as on the Glasgow list.

He is the first candidate to be announced for the Reclaim Party, led by actor Laurence Fox who is standing as a candidate for the Mayor of London, which will be elected on May 6 when Scots will also go to the polls.

The main point Kearse is running on is opposition to Yousaf's Hate Crime Bill, for which he has been a vocal critic since it was introduced to Parliament last year.

In his candidacy announcement video - filmed in Queen's Park which is part of the Glasgow Southside constituency - Kearse said he doesn't want to be a politician but that he has to stand against the bill.

He continued: "Under the Hate Crime Bill if you say something that someone else perceives as abusive or intended to stir up hatred - no matter what you said or how you meant it - you could be prosecuted.

"Scotland has a proud history of iconoclastic boundary-pushing comedians: Billy Connolly, Frankie Boyle, Jerry Sadowitz. They are all hilarious and have all said things that would get them prosecuted under this Hate Crime Bill."

When the bill was passed in Holyrood by MSPs earlier this month, Yousaf said that it "has sent a strong and clear message to victims, perpetrators, communities and to wider society that offences motivated by prejudice will be treated seriously and will not be tolerated".

He added: "Robust scrutiny has ensured we have met the right balance between protecting groups targeted by hate crime and respecting people’s rights to free speech.

“I look forward to overseeing the implementation of this legislation which will ensure Scotland’s justice system can bring perpetrators to account and provide sufficient protection for individuals and communities harmed by hate crimes.”

The "stirring up" of hatred offences applies to characteristics listed in the bill: age, disability, race, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity and variations in sex characteristics.

A statutory aggravation, in the hate crime context, is where the offender demonstrated, or was motivated by, malice and ill-will based on a listed characteristic, or characteristics.

These offences currently only apply to stirring up racial hatred, which has been an offence in Scots and UK law for decades.

READ MORE: Yousaf rejects freedom of expression fears as Hate Crime Bill goes before MSPs

The Reclaim Party has said it will back a package of reforms at Holyrood, including strengthening the powers of the Scottish Parliament by giving MSPs parliamentary privilege, as well as splitting up the prosecutorial and governmental responsibilities of the Lord Advocate into different positions.

Kearse ended the video by saying: "I don't even need to win. If we get just 8% of the vote across Glasgow, we send a message to the SNP that Scotland is a land of freedom."

The Scottish comedian shared a picture of himself and Fox on his Instagram late last year with the caption: "Great meeting with Laurence Fox today, we're going to be writing some comedy together then repenting from our gulags. It feels like there's a growing movement of positivity and laughter rejecting the intolerance and divisiveness of woke culture."

Yousaf gained the Glasgow Pollok seat from Johann Lamont in 2016 after Lamont had held the seat since the reconvening of the Scottish Parliament in 1999. Yousaf received 54.8% of the vote and a majority of 6482 votes.

Yousaf will be defending his seat on May 6 and other candidates so far include Dr Zubir Ahmed for Scottish Labour, James Spiers for the Scottish LibDems and Cristopher Ho for Ukip.