Reform campaigners 'pose as concerned residents'

Martin Shipton

Reform UK activists have posed as concerned residents when raising questions about a Plaid Cymru-led council’s housing record during a by-election campaign.

Nation.Cymru received an email from someone called Ffion Parry. It read: “I am writing in relation to a campaign leaflet currently being distributed by Plaid Cymru in the Ynys Gybi by-election on Ynys Môn, which takes place on 5 February 2026.

“The leaflet promotes Bethan Pari Jones, the Plaid Cymru candidate contesting the by-election. As you will be aware, this is a contested election with multiple candidates standing, including representatives from Plaid Cymru, Reform UK, Labour, Conservatives, the Green Party and a single independent candidate (stood down). Voters therefore rely heavily on campaign material being accurate, transparent, and not misleading by implication.

“I am particularly concerned about the wording used in the Housing section of the leaflet, which I believe is highly disingenuous and risks misleading voters on two distinct but related points.

“Firstly, the leaflet states that the candidate has ‘worked within the Council’s Housing Department’ and therefore ‘has the understanding to be able to work on your behalf’. While this may sound innocuous, the phrasing strongly implies that the candidate possesses either specialist influence, privileged access, or a practical ability to assist residents with social housing applications or allocations.

“This is a dangerous implication in the context of a housing crisis, where social housing supply is extremely limited and allocations are governed by strict statutory processes. No councillor past, present, or prospective can ‘work on behalf’ of individuals to secure housing that does not exist, nor should voters be led to believe that personal experience within a department confers any such advantage.

“Secondly, and more seriously, the leaflet goes on to claim: ‘The council, under the leadership of Plaid Cymru, has built 501 affordable and social houses since 2022."

“This is presented as a statement of fact. However, there is no clear or verifiable public record that substantiates this figure as homes built by the Isle of Anglesey County Council, under Plaid Cymru leadership, within that timeframe. At best, this appears to conflate multiple categories including housing association developments, private developments with small Section 106 contributions, conversions, acquisitions and present them as a single political achievement.

“The wording is carefully constructed to attribute direct delivery to ‘the council’; assign political credit to ‘Plaid Cymru leadership’; avoid clarifying what is meant by ‘built’; avoid distinguishing between council built homes and homes delivered by third parties.

“In short, it is a textbook example of how statistics can be framed to create an impression that is far stronger than the underlying reality.

“This matters. During an active election campaign, such claims risk distorting the democratic process by overstating performance, inflating delivery, and giving voters a misleading sense of progress on one of the most emotive issues facing Ynys Môn.

“This by-election is important. Voters in Ynys Gybi deserve full transparency, not artfully worded claims that blur lines between fact, attribution, and implication. Bringing these issues into the open is not negative campaigning, it is essential democratic scrutiny.

“I would urge that this leaflet, and particularly the housing claims it contains, are examined carefully and challenged where they cannot be robustly evidenced.”

We emailed Ms Parry, asking her whether she was representing another candidate or just a concerned local resident, but did not receive a reply.

Combination

A Plaid Cymru spokesperson said: "The figure quoted in our byelection leaflet is a combination of houses built by the council and built by our three registered social landlord partners in co-operation with the council, since 2022.

"As a party we campaigned in 2022 on the issue of ensuring everyone has a right to call somewhere home and it remains that we are making good on that commitment as the number of varying tenure social homes on the island has increased to try and meet the island’s housing needs.

"We have also used the money raised by the premium on second and empty homes to bring empty properties back into use and also provide equity loans for first time buyers."

The spokesperson added: It is worth noting that Ffion Parry is a Reform supporter. Richard John Jones - who shared the original post you forwarded onto us - is a prominent member of Reform locally, and introduced their candidate Celfyn Furlong at their recent launch.

“They are not concerned residents, but political campaigners for Reform.”