{"id":415764,"date":"2026-02-09T05:12:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T05:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/415764\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T05:12:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T05:12:10","slug":"reform-uks-welsh-leader-not-on-the-electoral-register-in-december-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/415764\/","title":{"rendered":"Reform UK&#8217;s Welsh leader &#8216;not on the electoral register in December 2025&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>                            <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-294013\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770613930_231_01KGPVND3PZ63DAE42A8A9YXBA-e1770398221717.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"694\"\/>New leader of Reform UK in Wales, Dan Thomas. Photo Andrew Matthews\/PA Wire<\/p>\n<p>Martin Shipton <\/p>\n<p>Newly appointed Reform UK Wales leader Dan Thomas does not appear in the electoral register compiled in December 2025 that covers the part of Wales where he has his roots, we have been informed.<\/p>\n<p>And despite continuing to claim that he is on the voters\u2019 roll in Wales, Reform has refused to answer any questions about the matter and is seeking to close scrutiny down.<\/p>\n<p>When Mr Thomas was announced by Nigel Farage as his choice to lead Reform in Wales, both men claimed he had moved back to his roots in the south Wales Valleys. He was brought up in Blackwood, in Caerphilly county borough.<\/p>\n<p>However, Nation.Cymru was told that Mr Thomas, a former Tory leader of Barnet council in London, had moved to the Bath area in 2024, where he had bought a house after selling his London home. He was said to be working in the financial sector. His declaration of interests at Barnet council said he worked for the Lloyds Bank group.<\/p>\n<p>Despite moving away from London, Mr Thomas did not resign as a councillor until December 2025, having defected to Reform UK last summer.<\/p>\n<p>We have sought to clarify the facts relating to Mr Thomas\u2019s living arrangements because only people whose primary residence is in Wales are legally entitled to stand for the Senedd.<\/p>\n<p>After being pressed, Reform UK confirmed to us that Mr Thomas had bought a house in Bath, claiming he had rented it out.<\/p>\n<p>We then asked Reform a series of questions:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen did he buy a house in the Bath area?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he move into it after leaving Edgware?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf so, when did he move in?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy did he buy a home in the Bath area if his intention was to relocate to Wales?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas his original intention to relocate to the Bath area?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat is the address of the house in the Bath area?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou claim that he is letting the house out. When did tenants move in? Did he buy the house as a \u201cbuy to let\u201d property with a \u201cbuy to let\u201d mortgage, with a conventional mortgage or for cash?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat rate of Stamp Duty Land Tax did he pay on the property in the Bath area \u2013 the basic rate or an additional 5% because he owns another residential property?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou claim that he is living in Wales. What is his address and when did he move there? Does he own the property or is he renting it? If he has bought it, what rate of Stamp Duty Land Tax did he pay on the property in Wales \u2013 the basic rate or an additional 5% because he owns another residential property?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf he is only renting in Wales, what is the explanation for that at a time when he has recently bought a house in the Bath area?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs he living with his parents or his wife\u2019s parents or is this a discrete dwelling?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFormer colleagues of his have told us that he moved to the Bath area to work for a large financial institution. Is that the case and if so what is the identity of his employer?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid his accommodation plans change as a result of the plan to announce him as leader of Reform UK Wales?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat are the circumstances under which he became leader of the party in Wales \u2013 was the first approach made by him or the party, and when did this occur; when was it decided by Mr Farage that Mr Thomas would be appointed the leader and on what basis was the decision taken?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid the decision entail a change in Mr Thomas\u2019s living arrangements in order to comply with the legal requirement that he lived in Wales in order to be a candidate for the Senedd?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoes he appear on the electoral register in the Bath area or in south Wales, and if so when was he registered?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs his wife registered at the same address?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGiven the opaqueness relating to Mr Farage\u2019s accommodation in Clacton, you will understand why these questions are detailed and designed to produce as much clarity as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Property portfolio<\/p>\n<p>Reform refused to answer any of these questions.<\/p>\n<p>However, Mr Thomas told BBC Wales that he had a \u201cproperty portfolio\u201d and that property location was being \u201cweaponised\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Following the receipt of further information, we wrote again to Reform UK\u2019s media team, stating: \u201dWe again urge you to respond to our questions relating to Dan Thomas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have been informed that no Daniel Thomas appears on the electoral roll for the Blackwood area dated December 2025. How do you account for that?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere has he been registered to vote since leaving his former home in Edgware, London in 2024?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have identified the location where yesterday\u2019s video of him asserting that he was living in Wales was made as Heol Pit-y-Ceiliogod in Blackwood. Is that close to where he lives? What is the address where he lives, who lives there with him and how long has he been living there? \u201cHow does that tally with Mr Thomas\u2019s electoral registration? When, if at all, did he register to vote in Wales and at which address? Can you provide us with proof of that?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere has he been registered to vote since leaving London?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson for Reform UK would only say: \u201cDan is on the electoral roll here in Wales.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We wrote back, stating: \u201cWhy are you so reluctant to respond to our specific questions?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou are being evasive and we can only conclude that you do not wish to be candid because of further questions likely to arise if you were.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>                                Support our Nation today<\/p>\n<p>For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an<br \/>\n                                    independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by<br \/>\n                                        the people of Wales.\n                                <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New leader of Reform UK in Wales, Dan Thomas. Photo Andrew Matthews\/PA Wire Martin Shipton Newly appointed Reform&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":412057,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-415764","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-kingdom","8":"tag-gb","9":"tag-great-britain","10":"tag-greatbritain","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/412057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}