It’s 8 May 2026, and Wales is facing a new government! For the first time in history, Welsh Labour have nowhere near enough seats to form a government, known here as the Senedd. They don’t even have enough seats for every member of the S Club Juniors. It’s inevitable that Plaid Cymru’s Rhun ap Iorwerth will be the new First Minister of Wales - whether in coalition or as minority government.
But I think I’m going to spend the next five years obsessed with the new Members of Senedd from far-right populist party Reform UK.
The Will Hayward Newsletter has been an invaluable source of information for this post. It’s a great publication for Welsh politics.
43 seats - Plaid Cymru (often “Plaid”), centre-left, pro-Welsh independence;
34 seats - Reform UK, far-right, populist;
9 seats - Welsh Labour, centre-left, pro-British union;
7 seats - Welsh Convervatives, right-wing, pro-British union;
2 seats - Wales Green party, left-wing, environmentalists, pro-Welsh indepenence;
1 seat - Welsh Liberal Democrats, centrist, socially liberal, pro-British union.
Reform UK - previously the Brexit Party - was co-created by Catherine Blaiklock (an anti-Islamist who wants to abolish food banks and start hanging drug dealers) and its current leader, Nigel Farage (a reality TV contestant).
The previous Welsh Senedd included exactly one Reform UK Member, but now we’ve got 34 of them. Let’s meet them!
Leader of Reform UK in Wales. Led Barnet Council, outsourcing a huge number of public services.
Claimed the media was “weaponising my housing portfolio against me”.
Claims Wales spends too much money on sport, even though Wales is among the worst in Europe for sport funding - only Poland and Latvia spend less per person on sport.
Deputy leader, Welsh speaker from North Wales. Accused Plaid Cymru campaigners of lying after one campaigner claimed Reform wanted to privatise the NHS, which isn’t a Reform policy.
Former Conservative Members who jumped ship to Reform. A YouGov poll in March suggested that both would lose their seats if they remained Conservatives. They switched parties and won.
Laura was a member of the previous Senedd. She was suspended for using a racial slur. Failed to turn up for key votes. DID turn up to vote against a bill to stop politicians from lying. She was the only vote against.
James previously called Reform’s anti-immigration rhetoric “dangerous”, said they “didn’t have a plan for Wales”, and were “total hypocrites”. Attacked the media for twisting his words after he defected.
Llŷr attempted to join the Senedd in October 2025 in a Caerphilly byelection that was ultimately won by Plaid. Farage apparently calls him “Welsh Dave”. Llŷr previously worked for former Reform Welsh leader Nathan Gill, who’s currently in jail for taking Russian bribes.
Former Tory, but also anti-devolution. Previously stood for the Abolish the Assembly Party (“Assembly” being the former name of the Senedd). Previously claimed a Powys pub would be used to house asylum seekers (this wasn’t true).
These two apparently made every effort not to speak to the Will Hayward Newsletter. Later, the Newsletter would find out that it’s Reform policy (orders from “the Party” according to Reform’s election agent Zak Weaver) not to engage with them.
Former Conservative Members.
Former head of Cleveland Police’s standards and ethics department, where she was suspended for two years after an investigation into allegations of misconduct.
Advocates reopening Welsh coal mines. Even though the last UK power station that used coal closed in 2024.
Blamed NATO for the war in Ukraine. Praised Vladimir Putin for his interview with American journalist and dweeb Tucker Carlson.
Claimed that Wales had introduced a blanket speed limit of 20 miles per hour on all roads in a video filmed on a Welsh road with a clearly-visible 50mph sign in the background.
In March, these three were named by an anonymous Reform UK insider as examples of representatives chosen unfairly rather than by merit. A Nation.Cymru article reported on the claim that Reform favours “insiders, parachuted candidates and personal connection over local knowledge and competence”.
A former Westminster Conservative, Farage allowed her to stand in a very safe seat in Wales, representing an area which (according to a colleague of hers) she’d visited once when she was seven.
Stood for Reform in the 2024 UK General Election.
In September 2025, made a TV appearance described by Llanelli town council leader David Darkin as “one of the worst TV interviews by a would-be Welsh politician ever.”
Honourable Mention: Nigel Farage
Farage had planned to visit Wales, but this was cancelled when it became clear Reform would come second to Plaid Cymru.
Farage is a dangerously clever strategist. He knows when it’s worth turning up in person. There was a real danger of Reform winning the most seats. Now - Reform leading the Senedd could erode Farage’s chances at the next UK General Election. But that wasn’t really on the cards anyway.
Polls predicted the possibility of Reform having the most seats, but without the numbers to form a government. Only the Welsh Conservatives would help them in coalition, and no polls thought Reform and the Conservatives would have enough seats between them for a majority.
So Farage could have benefitted hugely from Reform winning the most seats. Plaid Cymru would have ended up in government anyway, and Farage could point to this as an example of a system that’s rigged against his party.
Today’s result is very good for Reform. But it could certainly have been a lot better.
I’m so excited to see these guys in action. I am rooting for them to fail. I want suspensions, controversies, unacceptable absences.
Opposition is such an important part of a functioning government. Wales had a terrible opposition last time, and it’s even worse this time. I’m angry. But hey. Let’s do our best to embrace any schadenfreude we can get.
turnnoffyourmind
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