Reform UK leader Nigel Farage (left) welcomes Dan Thomas on stage after announcing him as the leader of Reform UK in Wales before the Senedd elections in May, during a rally at the International Convention Centre Wales in Newport, February 5, 2026
PLAID Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth dismissed Reform UK’s new leader in Wales as Nigel Farage’s “lapdog” today, saying that the party is made up of “washed-out Tories.”
Mr ap Iorwerth hit out at the far-right party’s announcement on Thursday that former Barnet council leader Dan Thomas will head its Welsh branch.
“Two more ex-Tories defecting to Reform UK should come as no surprise to the people of Wales,” the Plaid Cymru leader said.
“Now, there is no doubt that Reform UK are simply recycled, washed-out Tories looking for a new political home now the Conservatives are dead in the water.”
He added that the people of Wales “know that Reform is weak. Weak on solutions, weak on ideas, and weak on standing up for Wales.”
Mr ap Iorwerth argued that the announcement of the “so-called” Welsh leader of the party was merely a move to “get Nigel Farage into No 10 Downing Street, because for Reform, Wales is nothing but a stepping stone.
“Only Plaid Cymru can stop Reform in the election on May 7. Therefore, the people of Wales face a clear choice: a party that always stands up for Wales with Plaid Cymru or Farage’s lapdog running our NHS and schools.”
The Welsh nationalists have cited polling showing that Plaid is in the lead to become the largest party in May’s Senedd election, closely followed by Reform UK.
A Welsh Labour spokesperson said: “Ultimately it doesn’t matter who is named as Reform’s leader in Wales. They will just be Nigel Farage’s puppet, doing his bidding from Westminster and silencing the voices of the people of Wales.”
Conservative James Evans became the latest defector to Reform UK today after being sacked from the Welsh Tory Party last month over suspicions that he was planning to join Mr Farage’s followers.
