Dan Thomas, a former Conservative leader of Barnet council, has been appointed as Reform UK's leader in Wales by Nigel Farage. The announcement was made at a sold-out rally at the International Convention Centre Wales near Newport, three months before the Senedd elections. Journalists at the event were jeered and booed.
Thomas led Barnet council from 2019 to 2022 before it was taken by Labour. He defected to Reform last summer and stepped down as a councillor in December to return to his hometown of Blackwood in the south Wales valleys. Farage praised Thomas as 'battle hardened' and capable of leading the party through challenges.
Farage also introduced James Evans, the Senedd member for Brecon and Radnorshire, as the party's newest Conservative defector. Evans was sacked by the Tories last month amid suspicions he planned to join Reform. His defection brings Reform's number of MSs to two, following Laura Anne Jones's departure last July.
Polling last month suggested Reform's support has dropped from 29% to 23% of the vote, but that would still allow the party to increase its seats to 23. Farage said Thomas would have 'full autonomy' on Welsh policy. Reform candidates for Senedd lists will be announced in early March, with nearly 100 candidates across 16 new constituencies.
Thomas said the party has a 'once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to smash Labour's failing grip in Wales' and promised a 'positive, ambitious' manifesto soon. Current Reform policies include abolishing the 20mph speed limit in urban areas and reopening coalmines and steelworks, despite criticism that some plans are 'technically impossible'.
