{"id":663008,"date":"2026-06-28T16:19:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T16:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/663008\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T16:19:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T16:19:08","slug":"reform-uk-makes-dramatic-first-impression-in-senedd-opposition-role-welsh-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/663008\/","title":{"rendered":"Reform UK makes dramatic first impression in Senedd opposition role | Welsh politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tears, walkouts, own-goal votes: the Welsh parliament has only been sitting for a few weeks, but Reform UK<\/a> has already made a dramatic first impression in its new role as the official Senedd opposition.<\/p>\n

Plaid Cymru won May\u2019s historic Welsh elections<\/a>, ending 100 years of Labour dominance and blocking the momentum of Nigel Farage\u2019s Reform UK, which came second.<\/p>\n

He had aimed to become Wales\u2019s biggest party but Reform still performed better than any Welsh Conservative result on record, and increased its vote share from 1% in 2021 to 29% in 2026.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is unsurprising that new voices challenging longstanding consensus are drawing criticism from the establishment,\u201d said Dan Thomas, the Reform UK Wales leader.<\/p>\n

Joe Martins, a Reform MS for Caerdydd Penarth, elicited gasps from many of his political rivals and the public viewing gallery during first minister\u2019s questions by differentiating between Ukrainian and Sudanese refugees, alleging<\/a> only the latter commit violent crimes, and asking what Rhun ap Iorwerth would do to avoid \u201cthe next inevitable attack\u201d.<\/p>\n

Labour MS Shav Taj, next on the list of speakers, struggled to hold back tears as she responded by talking about her own parents\u2019 immigration experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo conflate the issue of immigration with the Nation of Sanctuary [a Welsh government<\/a> refugee initiative] and \u2026 some of the vile stuff we\u2019ve just been hearing is actually really shocking,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>, Labour and Green MSs.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s chief whip, Ll\u0177r Powell, said the rest of the Siambr should \u201cget used to it\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t hear anything I thought went over the line \u2026 Get used to it. It\u2019s the \u2018new norm\u2019 are the words I use,\u201d he told the BBC.<\/p>\n

Taj said: \u201cThe Senedd is a circus at the moment. It\u2019s clear [Reform] is after clickbait moments, for followers and shares. Some of them are clearly not serious people \u2026 this is a public space and there is parliamentary privilege but it\u2019s also a workplace. It\u2019s about setting the tone, and you have to use parliamentary language.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas said: \u201cReform Wales operate within the rules of the Senedd and are focused on making reasoned, evidence-based arguments on behalf of the people we represent.<\/p>\n

\u201c[We] believe that is part of a healthy democracy. Our role is to raise concerns and put forward perspectives that, in many cases, have not been properly represented in the Senedd.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue to do so and within the standards expected of elected members, constructively.\u201d<\/p>\n

More charitable observers have noted that since all but two of the group \u2013 Conservative defectors \u2013 are new to the Senedd, the party is still finding its feet.<\/p>\n

Some Reform MSs bewildered the rest of the chamber by going against their own party in a vote last week.<\/p>\n

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In a debate on Plaid Cymru\u2019s ambitious childcare plans<\/a>, one-third of Reform voted in favour of a motion including an amendment noting \u201cReform UK had no commitments on childcare in its Welsh manifesto\u201d.<\/p>\n

The political journalist and author Will Hayward commented<\/a>: \u201cI strongly suspect that the 11 who voted against their own party either didn\u2019t understand the motion or accidentally voted the wrong way.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the Senedd is set up to encourage cross-party cooperation \u2013 no party has ever won an outright majority \u2013 it is still unclear how collaborative or combative the new parliament is going to be.<\/p>\n

Plaid Cymru\u2019s minority government is already facing an uphill battle<\/a> in its first major test: getting a supplementary budget passed next month. It needs at least one other party to support it, and Reform has no reason so far to play ball.<\/p>\n

Reform will be chairing five of 13 Senedd committees, including the climate change, environment, sustainability and rural affairs committee, which one parliament source said is expected to be \u201cugly\u201d, given Reform\u2019s opposition to net zero and outright climate change denial from some of its politicians.<\/p>\n

Thomas may lead Reform in the Senedd, but Nigel Farage is the party\u2019s ultimate decision maker, said Laura McAllister, a professor of public policy at Cardiff University.<\/p>\n

\u201cChaos or bad behaviour in the Senedd doesn\u2019t sell well, even to the Reform base, because whilst people are prepared to consider Reform as a populist insurgent party, having the keys to No 10 is completely different,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have to convince people they have the discipline and the gravitas to operate properly, and if they can\u2019t do that in Wales, I think Farage understands that will impact on his chances.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Reform motion calling for a new statutory lobbying register was passed quickly with cross-party support. But the group has also tabled a debate for next week on Wales\u2019 nation of sanctuary programme<\/a>, which mainly helps Ukrainian refugees, and has long been a target of ire from the right.<\/p>\n

Many in the chamber are bracing themselves for more of what one Plaid MS called \u201cinflammatory and dangerous rhetoric\u201d.<\/p>\n

Peredur Owen Griffiths, a Plaid Cymru MS for Casnewydd Islwyn who has served as an MS since 2021, said: \u201cThe atmosphere in the Senedd has changed, but that was to be expected with 70% new members<\/a> across all the parties.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is unclear is whether [Reform] are struggling with the new expectations, or disregarding them. It will be worrying if this trend continues.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tears, walkouts, own-goal votes: the Welsh parliament has only been sitting for a few weeks, but Reform UK…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":663009,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-663008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663008","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=663008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/663009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=663008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=663008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=663008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}