Twenty-five or so Reform members of the Senedd were lined up against a wall. Almost as if they were in a police identification parade. Reform’s need to find a new leader in Wales is becoming habit-forming.
First, Nathan Gill was banged up for 10 and a half years on eight counts of taking £40K in bribes to make statements in support of Russia. Easily done. Who among us hasn’t been tempted by the Kremlin? And then last week, Dan Thomas chose to stand down after being arrested on suspicion of assault and coercive behaviour, leaving the Welsh leadership spot open once more. He denies the allegations.
It’s almost as if there’s a pattern emerging. That the job of Reform leader in Wales is somehow cursed. Otherwise law-abiding men and women suddenly find themselves accused of all sorts of things. So much so that it’s now the job that no one really wants.
Yet politics abhors a vacuum, and someone has to do the job. So it was a decidedly grumpy-looking Nigel Farage who turned up in Cardiff on Monday morning to pretend to be interested in announcing the next Reform Senedd leader. Perhaps he reckoned he had better things to do.
The event – if you can call a five-minute announcement that – was supposed to kick off at 11.45. Nige was booked on the 12.18 back to Paddington and had hoped to be in London for a late lunch. No champagne and oysters. There were no undercover reporters posing as Americans trying to make a potentially illegal donation this time. Instead, there was a 20-minute delay.
Nige really was going through the motions. He was thrilled by the results in Wales at the May elections, he began. He didn’t sound thrilled. Though that could be because Reform has been shedding support in Wales – as elsewhere – ever since. They have lost seven points in the opinion polls over the course of the summer and are looking less and less likely to challenge Plaid Cymru.
“Dan Thomas has been doing a brilliant job,” Nige continued. “I am sorry for his personal difficulties.” This was just weird. Almost as if he hadn’t even considered what Thomas had been alleged to have done. Yeah, Dan. Great bloke. Brilliant Reform leader. Always buys his round in the pub. It’s just unfortunate that he’s been arrested on suspicion of assault and coercive control. But it’s no big deal. He’ll soon be sorted.
Nige doubled down, calling the arrest a “bump in the road”. Not a word of sympathy or support for the person he is accused of having assaulted or subjected to coercive control. Besides, he was clear that Dan would come back soon. There would always be a welcome in the Reform valleys for Dan. We all need someone like Dan.
After the Song for Dan, Nige made the briefest of introductions to the new leader. Best to skip over the bit where almost half the Reform members of the Senedd had preferred a different candidate. The party in Wales is a hotbed of backstabbing. Not literally, mind. The job was going to Helen Jenner, the former deputy leader and Nige’s old-time Ukip mucker. “I’ve known her for years and I trust her,” he said.
Helen mumbled her thanks and said she would build on the good work done by others. It wasn’t clear if Dan would take over from her if he is cleared of the allegations, which he denies. It sounded like a possibility. In which case, I guess Dan might then only be keeping the seat warm for Nathan when he gets early release in 2031. You have to admire Reform’s loyalty.
And their amnesia. Because you also can’t help wondering if Nige is beginning to lose the plot somewhat. How else do you explain his recent Substack post in which he claimed that “British politics is awash with dirty money”? I mean, he’s obviously not entirely wrong. But why would he want to draw attention to it when questions remain over money received by Reform and figures associated with the party?
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There’s the £40K that went to Gill from the Russians. There was the apparent eagerness on the part of Dan Jukes and James Orr to accept overseas donations. A meeting at which Nige was present. Though not listening, apparently. There’s the dosh from Ben Delo, a man convicted of failing to comply with anti-money-laundering legislation in the US.
There’s the cash from Posh George and his mum that is somewhat opaque to say the least. There are the police and parliamentary investigations. The £5m gift that went undeclared. With the best will in the world, none of this seems the model of transparency. But what do I know? And it’s good to know that Reform operates in a world where any transgressions are so readily forgiven.
