Reform UK makes dramatic first impression in Senedd opposition role

Dan Thomas, the Reform UK leader in Wales, said his party operated within the rules of Senedd. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA View image in fullscreen Dan Thomas, the Reform UK leader in Wales, said his party operated within the rules of Senedd. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA Reform UK makes dramatic first impression in Senedd opposition role With more than a third of Welsh parliament seats, Reform MSs have caused tears and walkouts – and voted against their own party T ears, walkouts, own-goal votes: the Welsh parliament has only been sitting for a few weeks, but Reform UK has already made a dramatic first impression in its new role as the official Senedd opposition. Plaid Cymru won May’s historic Welsh elections, ending 100 years of Labour dominance and blocking the momentum of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which came second. He had been aiming for it to become Wales’s biggest party but it still performed better than any Welsh Conservative result on record, and increased its vote share from 1% in 2021 to 29% in 2026. With more than a third of the seats in the newly expanded chamber, the Senedd is now the biggest political platform Reform has ever had. Some of its new MSs have wasted no time making a mark. “It is unsurprising that new voices challenging longstanding consensus are drawing criticism from the establishment,” said Dan Thomas, the Reform UK Wales leader. Joe Martins, a Reform MS for Caerdydd Penarth, elicited gasps from many of his political rivals and the public viewing gallery during first minister’s questions last week by differentiating between Ukrainian and Sudanese refugees, alleging only the latter commit violent crimes, and asking what Rhun ap Iorwerth would do to avoid “the next inevitable attack”. Labour MS Shav Taj, next on the list of speakers, struggled to hold back tears as she responded by talking about her own parents’ immigration experience. “To conflate the issue of immigration with the Nation of Sanctuary [a Welsh government initiative] and … some of the vile stuff we’ve just been hearing is actually really shocking,” she said. In a debate the next day, Martins continued in a similar vein, alleging that Welsh students are unable to read and that Indian nurses are taking Welsh jobs. The comments triggered a walkout from some upset Plaid Cymru, Labour and Green MSs. Martins has since been rebuked by the Senedd llywydd (presiding officer), and has stayed quiet in plenary. After a formal Plaid Cymru complaint, however, Reform’s chief whip, Llŷr Powell, said the rest of the Siambr [debating chamber] should “get used to it”. “I didn’t hear anything I thought went over the line … Get used to it. It’s the ‘new norm’ are the words I use,” he told the BBC. Taj said: “The Senedd is a circus at the moment. It’s clear [Reform] is after clickbait moments, for followers and shares. Some of them are clearly not serious people … This is a public space and there is parliamentary privilege but it’s also a workplace. It’s about setting the tone