‘Desperation and lies!’ Reform UK and Tories trade heated blows as parties begin election battle in Wales

Reform UK and the Welsh Conservatives have traded heated blows in what is set to become the UK’s next key political battleground, the Labour bastion of Wales.

Elections for the Senedd- Wales’ devolved parliament- are due in 18 months and latest polls show for the first time in 25 years Labour may lose power thanks to their woeful NHS record and 20mph speed limits.

Reform UK, the Welsh Conservatives and Plaid Cymru are sensing an opportunity to make their mark in Wales, with the former two clashing this morning.

Andrew RT Davies, Leader of the Welsh Conservatives, said: “It’s a bit strange for Reform to try and claim they are the opposition in Wales when they’re preparing to climb into bed with Labour, Plaid Cymru and the Lib Dems on key issues.

“For instance, we know the Reform chairman thinks that plans to put 36 more unnecessary and unwanted politicians into the Senedd are ‘exciting’. That’s hardly the position of a party that wants to provide real opposition for people in Wales’ left-behind communities.”

The Senedd is expanding to 96 members for the next election, something Labour introduced. Critics say the policy shows Labour is not prioritising key issues facing Wales and highlight the fact it will cost the Welsh taxpayer nearly £18million a year.

Zia Yusuf, Reform chairman, described Senedd expansion as “exciting for Reform UK”, adding the party was building a “local branch structure across the whole of Wales”.

“Unlike Reform, the Welsh Conservatives oppose putting 36 more politicians in Senedd. We’re more interested in creating jobs for people in the Valleys and across Wales than creating jobs for aspiring politicians in Cardiff Bay,” added Andrew RT Davies.

Reform UK hit back: “We called the 2026 elections vital, because we want to save Wales from decades of failure. Our party leader, Nigel Farage laid out our opposition to 36 extra politicians at the weekend.

“Once again we see desperation by the Welsh Conservatives who now resort to repeated lies, they have failed for decades in opposition and the Welsh people are rightly preparing to consign them to the dustbin of history.

“As our conference and polling at the weekend showed, we have all the momentum in Welsh politics. Reform is the real opposition to Labour in Wales. Wales needs Reform.”

The clash comes after Reform held their second ever Welsh conference in the Celtic Manor, a luxury hotel in Newport that has hosted a NATO summit, this weekend.

Farage, fresh from supporting his friend Donald Trump in the US election, spoke at the conference to around 800 paying attendees, stating the Senedd 2026 elections would be his parties main priority that year.

Even liberal-leaning WalesOnline described the conference as having “genuine excitement in the room, a tangible buzz” with attendees – some of whom had paid £500 for a premium ticket – buying “armfuls of Reform merchandise”.

Their Political Editor Ruth Mosalski said: “As someone who has been to her fair share of conferences let me tell you it feels different.

“Reform is set to be a political force in Wales whether you like it or not.”

Asked about Reform’s rise, Welsh resident Helen Fawcett said: “Obviously the Labour government is on the back foot but so far the Conservatives are not taking advantage of it.

“They need to appeal to younger people and make their brand cool again. That could be impossible. Kemi really has her work cut out for her.

“There are a lot of shy Tories in Wales though.”

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One of the main reasons why Reform is targeting Wales is because the Senedd uses a proportional voting system.

For Reform, who won 223,018 votes in the General Election in Wales but secured zero MPs, this represents a huge opportunity as proportional representation allocates seats based on total votes secured, not which candidate secured the most votes in a specific constituency.

Poll analysis by Wales Online found Reform would win 17 seats under the voting system, a huge turnaround after the disappointment of coming second in 13 of the 32 Welsh Westminster constituencies.

Labour currently holds 30 of 60 seats in the Senedd, meaning they are already reliant on the support of one other Senedd member to pass legislation.

Thanks to a crisis-ridden Welsh NHS, Vaughan Gething’s disastrous administration and 20mph speed limits, the people of Wales are becoming disenchanted with Labour and feel they’ve been taken for granted after duly electing them for a quarter of a century.

The main winner from this disillusion appears to be Reform, with a recent poll from Survation projecting them to become the third biggest party in Wales on 19 percentage points – ahead of the Tories and three points behind Plaid Cymru.

With Labour set to lose their majority, and Plaid, Reform and the Tories highly unlikely to form some sort of coalition, the Welsh political scene is an uncertain one.

Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru have been approached for comment.