Latest evidence of support for Reform UK in Wales poses huge challenge to parties on the left

The questions need to be asked: why might people in Wales consider vote for Reform UK? What are the other parties not delivering/offering? What is Reform's appeal? I'm certainly not advocating voting for Reform, but I can understand people's frustration. The main parties have failed to make the people's lives better, they have not always listened, they have failed to improve public services, failed to bring down the cost of living, and tied the country up in radical left ideology (like wokism, multiple gender theory, etc.) - that you dare not disagree with, or you risk being verbally tarred and feathered. This poll should be a huge wake up call! Time to listen, politicians.

Mussolini was credited with making the trains run on time, but what has the Welsh Government achieved in over thirty years of devolution? While President Trump signed executive orders by the dozen daily, people in Wales are left wondering: what tangible progress has our government made? Free bus passes may have saved devolution from complete failure, but beyond that, where is the real progress? Where are the tens of thousands of social housing units Wales desperately needs? Do we have to wait for a Labour government in London to step in and tell us what to do, even in areas that are already devolved? The problem is that both Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru recruit almost exclusively from the public sector—people who seem incapable of making bold decisions or following through with real change. Meanwhile, in Welsh Labour heartlands, there’s growing admiration for Trump-style politics: a demand for stricter immigration policies and a return to protectionist economics, where tariffs bring manufacturing jobs back and people can once again be paid to put a widget on a widget. Reform UK will win in 2026. Eluned is useless, and London Labour knows it.

A bit difficult for Labour to point out that Reform is the "front" party of millionaires/billionaires when that is pretty much what the Starmer Labour party has become. Starmer himself gaining the Leadership on the back of covert funding from hedge funds and millionaire donors, all undeclared until forced to. And then subsequently heavily fined. And in government, now extreme concern and solace for the heroic non doms, but hypothermia for pensioners, with massive cuts looming for the disabled and sick. Of such things is "fictitious" growth built. One thing that's missed about Reform is that people know they are a con, but they also believe ALL politics is now a con, a dressing up box, so what's to lose. And as Hannah Aren't said of Nazi Germany and it's rise, people like to think they are in on the "joke" and the scam, Hitler is just "another" windbag, until it's too late. A fine world we have built

Ironically, going for the jugular and attacking Reform - will have the completely opposite effect. It'll elevate the party as the anti establishment option. People are also just fed up with confrontational politics and want answers to their problems, not division. Plaid should focus on what it can bring to the table. What it will do upon gaining power and crucially how it will do it. Regarding Reform, just keep to mentioning that it is an English based party, without any Welsh policies and no Welsh leader and leave it at that.

Need to point out lockdown shagger tice is a part time immigrant in a muslim country. Call ou their very obvious issues of hypocrisy. Farage is a failed mep and worse mp. They have a culture of failing, but gaining support on weird fake fear.

Eluned sure is useless, they all are, but just because we just suck it up does not mean we have to become Fascisti !

If Ukip & Brexit party offered Wales scant reward when Wales followed England by naively voting to leave the EU with the result Wales is worse off losing hundreds of millions in structural funding, our ports suffered greatly due to red tape and the Welsh economy has been affected more than any other. Did Farage care? Like hell he did. He's made millions while those who followed him are left to rot on benefits while he's sucking up to Donald Trump in America. Don't Welsh voters understand that Reform UK are basically a combination of Ukip & Brexit Party? The very same who lied about £350 million per week to the EU, how Britain would be flooded with Turkish migrants when they join the EU showing a poster featuring thousands asylum seekers flooding Europe when the poster was false and those featured were Syrian refugees fleeing murderous Assad & ISIS in the Middle East Also, the blatant scaremongering how Turkey was joining the EU meaning thousands of Turkish migrants flooding Britain would never happen. Why? Because they would never meet EU criteria to become a member state due to their human rights record. It seems Nigel Farage is using the Donald Trump book "How to lie to get elected" by going to deprived areas and promising the earth. He's already copying Trump's rallies. No doubt members of Reform UK are wearing "Make Britain Great Again" baseball caps. And state how they want to drain the swamp forgetting their leader Nigel Farage himself is from the sewer and is only out there to make money and take advantage of those deprived forgotten communities for his own political ends.

Reform is not offering anything past sound bites. You cannot outflank them on immigration but draw attention to the work you are doing to remove those who do not have a right to be here. Reform is owned by Farage and you concentrate on what he has said multiple times in the past - he wants to sell off the NHS, have a insurance backed system that will cost all of us ££££ every year or you go without. Keep banging that out.

What boggles me more is how anti-tory a lot of these labour areas are, yet pitching a party on anti-immigration and 'anti-woke' politics is enough for people to vote for one. How much impact these actually have on people's lives is debatable especially on a devolved government level. I think Labour has contributed to creating such an environment as much as the Tories have to give this "drain the swamp". The next attack when Reform fail to deliver because they know realistically nothing can be improved with these policies will be against Welsh language and culture which if Plaid don't shape up they might aswell ditch their self given party of wales title. I expect an eventual rebound effect to this right wing populism, but the damage will be done as things get worse before they get better.

They failed to see through Brexit...Reform is a completely different word, it will make all the difference... I expect they hesitate to tell us that thanks to pollution we, as a species, are getting more and more stupid/nasty/mean...the next century will be a poem by Adrian Henry

With elections being cancelled in England then Reform will relish their opportunity for Senedd seats.

Wise counsel from Mr Shipton, but it's a counsel i fear the political class which has governed Wales since 1999 will not heed. The truth is Farage & Co dont have to do anything between now and May '26 to emerge as the largest party in Wales' Parliament except point to the last 25 years. The most underperforming nhs in the uk, the worst educational standards in the UK, tens of thousands unable to access dental care, bus services collapsing and the numbers in need of social/council housing at record highs. Throw in some populist 'anti woke' measures and a welsh electorate tired with what they see as the failing status quo and desperate for change - any kind of change - will do the rest. Indeed so healthy do Reform's prospects in Wales look at the moment that the scoundrels may not need to resort to their favoured and insidious tactic of 'dog whistle' racism. For sure there remains the possibility Reform will be embarrassed ahead of polling day due to their penchant for such things as adopting admirers of adolf hitler as candidates. And for sure Farage et al's liking for the policies of Margaret Thatcher need to be brought to the attentions of a welsh population which still has strong memories of the devastation those thatcherite policies wrought on so many welsh communities But we live in an age where electorate's around the world seem unable to see that the 'solutions' to their problems being offered by right wing populists are pure snake oil. And it would be naive - and seeing things thru rose tinted spectacles - to think the good voters of Wales will behave much different next year (indeed the polls are already telling us they wont). Martin Shipton is right when he says that this really should be plaid's moment to shine, and to do what the SNP did in scotland in 2007. But afraid to say those aforementioned polls dont suggest any such political earthquake is likely to happen in Wales anytime soon. Indeed those polls show that it's reform - and not plaid - which is set to reap the benefits of the growing anti-labour mood in working class communities in places like south wales. The very communities that those of us who support plaid cymru know we need to capture if we are to realise our dream of being the major electoral force in Wales. About the only positive that can be said from these polls is that a labour party which has so badly mismanaged Wales' affairs for the last quarter of a century is set to pay a long overdue price for their ineptitude at the senedd elections next year.

If its the case that people vote on the grounds of emotion rather than intellectual argument, then its time we found another great Welsh orator that Wales is renowned for. Someone who can shake us out of our political apathy and proudly proclaim a radical leftwing agenda that can lift the spirits and get us to the voting booth.

The raise of UKIP was a lesson for the political class which they totally failed to learn from which is why we have the raise of Reform. The turn out for the last Senedd election was a mere 45%, the main stream parties have failed to make themselves relevant to the people of Wales, Reform have done in a year what they couldn't do in 25 years. Will they learn the lesson before it's to late, I'm betting not.

I would suggest that polls this far away from a GE (even Senedd election) aren't that meaningful. People forget but most post-war governments often struggle in the polls in between elections, with exception to Blair. Some might point to time the SDP/Liberals being on >50% with a 25+ point lead over labour and the tories! So I would take this with a pinch of salt. But ironically, this obsession with polls keeps Reform in the news - afterall, and as pointed out, policies are thin on the ground. But I do agree - Reform are a serious party because people want 'change', voters aren't changing to Plaid, and the UK/Wales is in decline without a clear plan to reverse this, or even acceptance about what is actually needed to reverse this

Martin Shipton is right Plaid must raise its game massively on social media. Beyond that, amongst other things, Plaid must focus on bread and butter issues - not as Adam Price appears to do, obsess with things like giving puberty blockers for under 18s. For potential Green voters in 2026 they need to decide if they want to waste their vote on the Green Party (who will at best get 1 seat) and help Reform or vote Plaid or Labour and help prevent a far-right English nationalist, climate change denying government in Wales.

Farage keeps it simple and gives people someone to blame their woes on. The reasons might be sensationalised and a ficticious account of reality, but he doesn't let that get in the way of a soundbite. He keeps it simple and black and white and lazy thinkers like that. They can jump on a bandwagon without engaging their brains at all. Perfect! He's aligned himself with Trump and Musk who've provided the same thing for Americans who are not into too much thinking. Now they're being seen as tough guy action men promoting selfishness and knee jerk instant reactions. Their strapline being "cause shock and awe". It's all very exciting isn't it? Not like that boring long term, for the good of the world and humanity politics. They want dramatic change and they want it now.

We'll always wonder how VG would've responded to this. In other forums his initial approach while unpopular with the chattering classes seemed to be resonating well with vocal Reformers. Removing him for following the rules, only to replace him with an establishment candidate and convicted rule breaker, may have been the gift to Reform they needed.

It’s more a question of Plaid having the disadvantage of being around for a long time (and spent a good deal of it propping up Labour). Not sure what real “experience” is referred to either - apart from comfy opposition.

Jeremy Corbyn in 2017 actually got more votes than Starmer in The last GE. His downfall was a very hostile right wing media plus the fact that Corbyn sat on the fence over Brexit which gave Boris the Green Light to win the Red Wall Seats.

The Labour Party both in Wales and now in England has swung so far to the left they are calling the centre ground far right. There is inevitably a kick back which will swing the pendulum back to the centre. Labour has proved it cannot be trusted with OUR money and people quite rightly have had enough of them making us all poorer. They are hell bent on pushing a failed ideology and expect all the working people to finance their incompetence. And at the last election I voted for Corbyn. But definitely didn't vote for Starmer who will make Labour unelectable for 25 years.

After decades of Welsh Labour taking for granted Welsh voters they have consistently stepped over the mark. They are doomed & when 25% of Labour MSs decline to put their names forward in the coming election, even they know it. But, just like the pocket fillers they have been for ever they cut & run@ Tesign & pick up one last golden handshakes is their moto!

How thoroughly depressingly telling about people’s inhumanity that “abolishing trans stuff” is seen as “a job well done. These are real people with real feelings and hopes. Remember when people claimed they were good people? Remember when we cared about each other?