Article by Adam Barnett republished from DeSmog.

Welsh Reform labelled a “retirement home for failed Conservatives”.

The majority of Reform UK’s shadow cabinet in Wales is made up of former Conservative Party politicians, including its leader, chief whip, and shadow economy minister, DeSmog can reveal.

Nigel Farage’s radical right-wing party – which campaigns against climate policies and supports dramatically increased fossil fuel production – became the second largest group in the Senedd following elections on 7 May.

Reform has presented itself as an outsider force and an alternative to the established parties.

However, DeSmog’s analysis finds that almost two thirds (64.2 percent) of Reform’s shadow cabinet posts in Wales are held by individuals who have previously served or stood for the Tories.

That amounts to nine out of Reform’s 14 shadow cabinet members, and includes Reform’s leader in Wales, Dan Thomas, who was Conservative leader of Barnet Council in London before defecting to Farage’s party in June last year. 

It also includes the party’s chief whip, Llŷr Powell, a former Tory council candidate, and shadow economy minister Jason O’Connell, a former Tory councillor.

In total, 12 of Reform’s 34 Senedd members are former Conservative politicians – amounting to 35 percent of the party’s representation in the assembly.

A spokesperson for the Wales Green Party said: “In the election campaign, Reform presented themselves as an insurgent anti-establishment party, but it’s looking more like they’re just a retirement home for failed Conservatives.”

Reform’s central party is also replete with ex-Tories. Six of Reform’s eight members of UK Parliament defected from the Conservatives, five while they were serving MPs. This includes Robert Jenrick, a former Tory minister and Reform’s current economic spokesperson, and former Conservative home secretary Suella Braverman, both of whom defected in January. 

Of the remaining two – Farage and his deputy Richard Tice – the latter is a former Tory party member and donor.

In Scotland, at least four of Reform’s members of the Scottish Parliament are former Tory politicians, including Max Bannerman in the Highlands and Islands, Thomas Kerr and Kim Schmulian in Glasgow, and Graham Simpson in Central Scot and Lothians West. 

Reform’s biggest donor, Thailand-based crypto and jet fuel billionaire Christopher Harborne, was previously a donor to the Conservative Party, giving £1.5 million between 2018 and 2022.

Harborne has donated £22 million to Reform, and gave Farage a £5 million gift in 2024 prior to him reclaiming the Reform leadership and standing for Parliament. Farage did not declare this sum when he was elected as an MP, and it is now the subject of a parliamentary standards investigation.

The Roster

Llŷr Powell, Reform’s chief whip and business manager in Wales, was a Conservative Party candidate for local government in 2022, and supported Kemi Badenoch for Tory leader the same year.

Powell, who was Reform’s unsuccessful candidate in the October 2025 Caerphilly Senedd by-election, used to work for Nathan Gill, the party’s former Welsh leader. Gill is currently serving a 10 and a half year prison sentence for accepting bribes from an agent of the Russian government during his time as a Member of European Parliament (MEP) for the Brexit Party (Reform’s forerunner).

Powell has said he didn’t work for Gill when he committed these offences, and had no knowledge of his crimes, but has refused to say the exact dates when he served under Farage’s former MEP.

James Evans, Reform’s shadow minister for health, prevention and sport, was elected as the Senedd member for Brecon and Radnorshire in 2021 as a Conservative. Before that, he served in Welsh local government as a Tory.

Laura Anne Jones, Reform’s shadow minister for food, farming and rural affairs, was previously a Conservative Senedd member for South Wales East.

Sarah Cooper-Lesadd, the party’s shadow minister for children, young people and skills, was a Conservative candidate for Coventry East in the 2024 general election. From 2022 to 2024 she was also a parliamentary assistant to Vicky Ford, Tory MP for Chelmsford.

Louise Emery, Reform’s shadow minister for culture, tourism and hospitality, was elected in 2017 and 2022 as a Conservative councillor in Conwy.

Francesca O’Brien, shadow minister for local government, housing and planning, was a Tory councillor for the Mumbles elected in 2017.

Adrian Mason, Reform’s shadow Counsel General and shadow minister for the constitution, was a Tory council candidate in Wales in 2017.

Jason O’Connell, shadow minister for economy and transport, was briefly a Welsh Conservative councillor in 2018, having been elected as an independent.

Outside of the shadow cabinet, Reform Welsh Senedd members Iain McIntosh and Tom Montgomery were elected to local government in Wales as Conservatives in 2022, while Stephen Senior stood as a Tory in 2022 and 2023.

Reform was approached for comment.

Article by Adam Barnett republished from DeSmog.