Reform UK gain first Senedd Member after Tory defection

Local TV

A veteran Tory Senedd Member has officially defected from her former party to join Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. It marks the first time ever that a Reform UK member will sit in the Senedd, but the party are still without a leader. Laura Anne Jones, who announced her decision to defect at the Royal Welsh Show, has not ruled herself out of leadership.

Transcript

00:00For the first time ever, the Senate officially has a Reform UK member after the defection

00:07of a high-profile Conservative who has been a member of the party for three decades.

00:13Former Tory veteran Laura Ann Jones has officially left the Welsh Conservatives and will now

00:17sit as a Reform UK member of the Senate until after the next election.

00:22There have been a number of defections over the years, mostly from Conservatives joining

00:26UKIP and other similar parties, and Laura Ann Jones' will certainly be one of the most

00:31remarkable.

00:32Her decision though is controversial, given she was elected as a list member of the Conservative

00:37party, meaning she was voted in primarily as a Tory candidate, not a politician who happened

00:43to be a member of the party, like is the case for others.

00:48The news comes as Reform UK sits on top of a number of opinion polls for next year's Senate

00:52election, so will be a shot in the arm to supporters and members of the party who are vying for

00:57top spot come May 2026.

01:02Nigel Farage's party have made some huge inroads in UK politics, especially in England over

01:06the last few years, with a record number of MPs and a dominant performance in English local

01:12elections where they won hundreds of council seats.

01:16In Wales though, they've not quite caught the imagination like in England, but they haven't

01:20necessarily had a full opportunity, with no major by-election or local elections coming

01:24in the last few years in Wales.

01:28The party do not have a leader in Wales, which many have criticised, saying that Wales is

01:31not a priority for the party, and they're not taking Welsh voters seriously.

01:36Laura Ann Jones though, has refused to rule herself out as a potential leader in Wales.

01:40I'm Peach Watkins, reporting for Local TV.

01:42I'm Peach Watkins reporting for Local TV.

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