Thursday, November 12, 2026
The many contortions of Reform UK in Wales
Martin had been told he would not be allowed to speak in the Senedd's chamber until he apologised for the remarks, which the parliament's Presiding Officer Huw Irranca-Davies called "unnecessarily provocative and deliberately offensive".
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called the ruling "ridiculous and outrageous".
Reform, which is by far the Senedd's largest opposition party, said its members would withdraw from most of Wednesday's proceedings before returning to vote in the parliament later in the evening.
Joe Martin was also backed by the leader of right-wing party Restore Britain, Rupert Lowe.
The controversial question by Martin is just the latest in a series of disruptive tactics by Reform UK. Will Hayward's substack is very informative on this. He has carried out a deep-dive look inside the Reform UK group within the Welsh Parliament, speaking to Reform Senedd Members, staffers and figures from other parties, trawling committee attendances and looking inside WhatsApp groups:
What we have found is a party that:
* is failing to adequately scrutinise the Welsh Government and hold them to account
* has a culture of ‘mass paranoia’ and suspicion towards journalists, other parties and organisations
* is seemingly beset with infighting and hamstrung by excessive control from Nigel Farage and the UK-wide Reform party
We approached all Reform MSs giving them an opportunity to speak to us for this piece. Those who agreed did so under the strict promise of anonymity.
As you read this, it’s important to bear in mind this is not a party on the fringes of Welsh politics. They are the official opposition, a vital cog in a functioning Welsh democracy. They are apparently, to use their words, “preparing for Government in 2030”.
Will Hayward points out that far from taking their job of scrutiny seriously, that out of exactly 100 Senedd committee meetings held between May 8th and October 21st, there have been 31 times when at least one Reform MS has been absent. That is almost a third of all meetings, that is almost as many meetings as all the other parties’ MSs put together.
Reform UK also claim to have made 2,300 speeches in the Senedd, Will Hayward has counted 2,318 in both committee and the Senedd plenary, however, some of those 'speeches amount to just a single word. Furthermore,
Reform UK's Deputy Leader, Laura Anne Jones’ claims of taking their “job to scrutinise seriously” also ring a little hollow when just last week she won a ballot to lead a short debate in the Senedd but did not notify the Table Office of her selected topic by the deadline:
In Reform’s defence, they have seemingly managed to…erm…hold themselves to account.
On June 11, a third of the party bizarrely voted in favour of a motion criticising their own Senedd election manifesto for having no commitments on childcare.
This hardly paints the picture of a party prepared to do the hard graft of scrutiny, holding ministers to account or “preparing for government” in 2030.
But it is Reform UK's paranoia that really stands out for Will Hayward. He quotes an incident when a Reform MS sat at his table in the Senedd canteen only to flee when he realised that he was sharing the space with a journalist, telling him: “I am not allowed to be here or talk to you.”
Hayward describes this episode as the perfect embodiment of the culture within the Reform group:
Absolute paranoia of the media, opposition parties and perhaps most of all, each other.
Reform MS Francesca O’Brien even raised the issue in the Senedd (presumably this was one of their 2,300 speeches) where she asked for journalists’ access to be restricted because someone was “chatty” to her in a toilet.
But it isn’t just journalists that are off limits for conversation. As one MS told us:
“Before the election we were told not to speak to the media at all. But it was also organisations. Anyone who upset HQ got onto the list.
“This included Cavendish, Oxfam, Shelter Cymru, Nation Cymru, you, Books Trust, the Future Generations Commissioner and the Children’s Commissioner.
“The reason for Shelter was because they were critical of Reform’s immigration and asylum policy, and HQ couldn’t handle the fact that they were being criticised.
“It has also been made clear to us that speaking to journalists who are banned would be a very serious matter.”
It is genuinely astounding how deep the worry of incurring the wrath of those higher up goes within Reform. The conversations we had with MSs all had to take place away from the Senedd or over the phone for fear of retribution.
Perhaps this is understandable given the dictatorial nature of the party structure, with HQ in London keeping a very tight grip on the Welsh part of the party (we will come on to this later).
The perceived power of those higher up is omnipresent. In the Reform Senedd group office there is a massive 6ft poster of Nigel Farage, who is widely referred to by the moniker “The Big Boss” by the Welsh group.
As one figure told us:
“It was decided that we’re going to have it [the poster] in the office, but some people were embarrassed, unsurprisingly. They decided to have it on the back of the main door. So as you look into the office you can’t see it but as you leave it is staring at you.”
While there is a fear of journalists and outside organisations, what about other parties?
Several people with Reform described the situation as “mass paranoia”. One told us “if some was to speak to another party” they would be considered a “defection risk”.
But who is calling the shots for Reform UK in Wales? Will Hayward has an interesting insight:
Part of the challenge for both Mr Thomas and his successor Helen Jenner is that they don’t have any real autonomy from the wider Reform group. The nature of the Senedd is that coalitions or alliances are almost inevitable. But the Welsh Reform constitution, seen by this newsletter, states that Nigel Farage must give permission for the Reform group to work with any other party.
It states that if Helen Jenner wishes to enter into any formal coalition or ongoing voting arrangement with any members of any other political party (including Independents) she must “seek advance approval from the Party Leader by way of a formal request in writing to the Party Leader”.
The constitution also states that it is the central party that is ultimately responsible for disciplining members.
Rather than issues being dealt with by Helen Jenner or Llyr Powell, when there is a perceived failure the likes of Matthew MacKinnon and Ed Sumner will be called in from London.
MacKinnon has bounced around jobs in both Reform and the Tories but now is the director of external affairs for Reform.
Sumner, who is Reform’s head of communications, used to work for Laura Anne Jones. He was filmed saying his job was “defending the indefensible” in a recent undercover ITV documentary. Leaked messages also show he once described me as a “c***” (though in my view that credits him as a good judge of character).
One figure in the group told us:
“You can see their worldview is that we [in Wales] actually need a parent to come in and take care of things.”
Another Reform figure was less generous about MacKinnon and Sumner:
“Those two are just awful. They are dictators who don’t actually have any ideas on how to improve things.”
Because Reform are boycotting the Senedd on Armistice Day. this means that the official opposition won't be taking part in a debate they tabled on how we can better support the armed forces and veterans.
In Reform’s defence, they have seemingly managed to…erm…hold themselves to account.
On June 11, a third of the party bizarrely voted in favour of a motion criticising their own Senedd election manifesto for having no commitments on childcare.
This hardly paints the picture of a party prepared to do the hard graft of scrutiny, holding ministers to account or “preparing for government” in 2030.
But it is Reform UK's paranoia that really stands out for Will Hayward. He quotes an incident when a Reform MS sat at his table in the Senedd canteen only to flee when he realised that he was sharing the space with a journalist, telling him: “I am not allowed to be here or talk to you.”
Hayward describes this episode as the perfect embodiment of the culture within the Reform group:
Absolute paranoia of the media, opposition parties and perhaps most of all, each other.
Reform MS Francesca O’Brien even raised the issue in the Senedd (presumably this was one of their 2,300 speeches) where she asked for journalists’ access to be restricted because someone was “chatty” to her in a toilet.
But it isn’t just journalists that are off limits for conversation. As one MS told us:
“Before the election we were told not to speak to the media at all. But it was also organisations. Anyone who upset HQ got onto the list.
“This included Cavendish, Oxfam, Shelter Cymru, Nation Cymru, you, Books Trust, the Future Generations Commissioner and the Children’s Commissioner.
“The reason for Shelter was because they were critical of Reform’s immigration and asylum policy, and HQ couldn’t handle the fact that they were being criticised.
“It has also been made clear to us that speaking to journalists who are banned would be a very serious matter.”
It is genuinely astounding how deep the worry of incurring the wrath of those higher up goes within Reform. The conversations we had with MSs all had to take place away from the Senedd or over the phone for fear of retribution.
Perhaps this is understandable given the dictatorial nature of the party structure, with HQ in London keeping a very tight grip on the Welsh part of the party (we will come on to this later).
The perceived power of those higher up is omnipresent. In the Reform Senedd group office there is a massive 6ft poster of Nigel Farage, who is widely referred to by the moniker “The Big Boss” by the Welsh group.
As one figure told us:
“It was decided that we’re going to have it [the poster] in the office, but some people were embarrassed, unsurprisingly. They decided to have it on the back of the main door. So as you look into the office you can’t see it but as you leave it is staring at you.”
While there is a fear of journalists and outside organisations, what about other parties?
Several people with Reform described the situation as “mass paranoia”. One told us “if some was to speak to another party” they would be considered a “defection risk”.
But who is calling the shots for Reform UK in Wales? Will Hayward has an interesting insight:
Part of the challenge for both Mr Thomas and his successor Helen Jenner is that they don’t have any real autonomy from the wider Reform group. The nature of the Senedd is that coalitions or alliances are almost inevitable. But the Welsh Reform constitution, seen by this newsletter, states that Nigel Farage must give permission for the Reform group to work with any other party.
It states that if Helen Jenner wishes to enter into any formal coalition or ongoing voting arrangement with any members of any other political party (including Independents) she must “seek advance approval from the Party Leader by way of a formal request in writing to the Party Leader”.
The constitution also states that it is the central party that is ultimately responsible for disciplining members.
Rather than issues being dealt with by Helen Jenner or Llyr Powell, when there is a perceived failure the likes of Matthew MacKinnon and Ed Sumner will be called in from London.
MacKinnon has bounced around jobs in both Reform and the Tories but now is the director of external affairs for Reform.
Sumner, who is Reform’s head of communications, used to work for Laura Anne Jones. He was filmed saying his job was “defending the indefensible” in a recent undercover ITV documentary. Leaked messages also show he once described me as a “c***” (though in my view that credits him as a good judge of character).
One figure in the group told us:
“You can see their worldview is that we [in Wales] actually need a parent to come in and take care of things.”
Another Reform figure was less generous about MacKinnon and Sumner:
“Those two are just awful. They are dictators who don’t actually have any ideas on how to improve things.”
Because Reform are boycotting the Senedd on Armistice Day. this means that the official opposition won't be taking part in a debate they tabled on how we can better support the armed forces and veterans.
