Laura Anne Jones, Reform UK's only member of the Welsh Parliament (Senedd), has been suspended for two weeks without pay after using a racial slur in an office WhatsApp group. The suspension, voted on by the Senedd on Wednesday evening, follows an investigation by the standards commissioner, Douglas Bain.
Jones, who defected from the Conservatives to Reform in the summer, used an offensive Chinese slur in a discussion about the threat of Chinese government espionage via TikTok. The Senedd's standards of conduct committee report noted that the comment was made in August 2023 amid public concern over TikTok data gathering.
The report also highlighted a separate WhatsApp exchange in November 2023 where a staff member posted a message endorsing former Home Secretary Suella Braverman's claims of two-tier policing. Jones admitted the post was unacceptable but did not reprimand the staff member at the time. The committee concluded that the conduct reflected an office culture with little respect for others.
Addressing the Senedd before her suspension, Jones apologised, saying she never meant to cause offence. She added that the process and leaks to the press had negatively impacted her family and health, and that she had nearly taken her own life.
The suspension is a blow to Reform UK, which has high hopes for next year's Senedd elections. It comes four weeks after the party lost the Caerphilly by-election to Plaid Cymru, seen as a rejection of its anti-immigration stance. A Plaid Cymru spokesperson called Jones's language 'vile and completely unacceptable', while a Welsh Labour spokesperson noted that similar language is part of Reform's playbook.
