Reform in chaos as infighting erupts over Senedd candidate selections

Emily Price

Members of Reform UK have warned of growing "chaos" behind the scenes in Wales as infighting erupts over candidate selections for the Senedd election.

Several Reform sources got in contact with Nation.Cymru this week to air their grievances about the party's direction.

It came as the party announced its final slate of candidates ahead of the May 7 Senedd election.

One senior Reform UK source said: "The selections have been disastrous from the moment they began - all of the promises Zia Yusuf made when Farage put him in as ‘Chairman’ to democratise were lies pure and simple.

"Members of the branches are just told to handover money and to turn up to deliver leaflets - they have no rights over who they will be working with when elected to the Senedd.

"Councillor David Thomas joined at the end of 2024 and brought a group of chancers from Torfaen over.

"They’d tried being Tory - anything to get access to the salaries and expenses they can get in the Senedd.

"They wanted all their mates in the winnable positions and the Tory defectors have done the same.

"Welsh leader Dan Thomas isn’t a newbie to politics in Wales, he goes years back with Senedd Member Laura Anne Jones.

"They have as well just used the candidacy process to poach places for their pals.

"It’s gross but this is what Reform has become - jobs for careerists like Councillor Jason O' Connell."

'Shipped in'

A Reform activist also sent Nation.Cymru a series of messages on Tuesday (March 23) warning that the party had "stopped supporting candidates who have been working in their constituencies for months and years" and had instead "shipped in new candidates from outside those constituencies" to support new Welsh leader, Dan Thomas.

The source said: "Many of those original candidates have been pushed out of the selection process and people from local branches are really upset as they do not recognise these new candidates and have noted they have not been in the local branches supporting those original candidates who have been out in all weathers expecting to be fairly elected to represent their constituencies.

"Community links are so important where constituents know the candidate and they know the constituency and its people. I have witnessed members saying this is the last straw and are leaving the party because the members are not being listened to at branch level.

"It is thought that these new candidates have been members of a think tank which has been run by David Thomas and others. Chairmen and members have been sacked for challenging what has been going on behind the scenes.

"Apparently Farage and Thomas are not bothered as they can do what they want with this new system of election. Many ex Labour members have said they will go back to Labour as its turning out to be the Conservative two – party.

"A lot of angry people upset at this chopping of local candidates and parachuting in of new candidates who have no affinity with the constituencies.

"I think Reform have played right into the hands of Plaid and Labour which is their own arrogant fault ignoring local people."

'Dropped'

They added: "Come on people challenge what is happening on the ground today, candidates being dropped or given positions where they wont be elected but for the chosen few of David Thomas’ mates and list, in favour of his friends and mates from behind the scenes in Reform UK.

"Poor choices with people who have no experience in the constituencies make them stand up and be counted and support your local candidate - not those being parachuted in."

Elsewhere, Merthyr Tydfil Councillor Andrew Barry quit the party citing anger over "parachuting" individuals into seats from outside the local area.

Barry - who defected to Reform UK during a keynote speech by Farage last year - also expressed anger over the substantial number of Conservative defectors the party had welcomed.

The former Independent councillor had come under fire in recent months over comments he made about the Pakistani community in a voicemail left to a journalist and offensive messages he had posted online before joining Reform.

Ex-Tory

Barry told BBC Wales that he had pulled out of standing for the Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr seat after he was told that Torfaen councillor Jason O'Connell would be the number one candidate on Reform's list for the constituency.

In recent months O'Connell - a former Tory and ally of prominent Reform figure David Thomas - had taken part in a number of high-profile media appearances.

Barry said that Reform's plan to put a former Conservative in the Valleys was "wrong" and "would not go down well" with voters.

Another insider who recently quit Reform amid concerns about the party's direction said: "This was always going to be the case - Cronyism and ex Tories.

"The process/recruitment was a disaster after Kirsty Walmsley left - but what would you expect from Dr Squidgy?"

Window cleaner

Former interim director of the party in Wales, Kirsty Walmsley, was made redundant in 2024.

Chairman, Zia Yusuf later appointed Torfaen Councillor and window cleaner David Thomas - also known as Dr Squeegee and DJ Dowster - as Reform’s regional director for Wales.

Reform announced its full list of Senedd candidates on Wednesday evening (March 25) just 15 days before the deadline for parties to declare their candidates list for the May 7 election.

Hours before the announcement, Welsh Labour MP Chris Bryant said it was "profoundly anti democratic" of Reform still not to have named their candidates for an election taking place in a matter of weeks.

"They are deliberately avoiding scrutiny," he said.

Jason O'Connell hit back saying: "It’s a closed list system, Labour's system, designed purposefully to keep the left in power in Wales.

"Reform doesn’t dance to the tune of other parties or the media. We release information on our terms, our timetable.

"We will not be dictated to on what to release and when. We set the political weather. We’re the most scrutinised party in the UK, by far."

It's not the first time concerns have been raised about Reform's selection process.

In September, Nation.Cymru reported how former Senedd election hopeful Ajay Owen had resigned from the party alleging the selection process was "rigged from the get-go".

Owen claimed that "front runners" had been secretly hand-picked by party leadership before any formal assessment, bypassing a democratic vote by grassroots members.

Reform UK was invited to comment.