Reform a ‘posh boys’ club’ exploiting Wales’ grievances – Lord Kinnock

Hayley Jones

Former Labour leader Lord Neil Kinnock has launched a scathing attack on Reform UK, accusing it of exploiting long-standing grievances in Welsh communities while offering no credible solutions.

Dismissing its claim to represent abandoned working-class voters, he said Reform trades on resentment rather than real answers.

“The only argument going for them is grievance and resentment,” he said. “You can’t represent people on that basis.”

He rejected the suggestion that Reform UK speaks for overlooked communities. “Of course it’s not. It’s the opposite. It’s a posh boys’ club. They don’t give a damn about the real wellbeing of the communities of Wales.”

He said Reform taps into frustration without offering a serious plan to address it. “You’ve only got a shout. There’s no design, no practical plan,” he said, pointing to what he described as “falsehoods like the economic bounty that was supposed to come from Brexit, which has proved to be a Farage mirage.”

That criticism extended to Reform leader Nigel Farage, particularly over claims about reindustrialising Wales. “You can only say that if you don’t really give a damn about the reality,” he said, accusing Farage of telling audiences what they want to hear while being “willing to insult people’s intelligence, experience and memories.”

“The whole of this vehicle runs on fantasies,” he added, “with no commitment to the wellbeing of Wales.”

Misinformation and media

Lord Kinnock also criticised claims about immigration and the media coverage of Reform UK.

He dismissed claims that migrants receive disproportionate support as “factual rubbish,” arguing most come to work and contribute. “The majority are young, want to work, do work and pay their taxes. They generate a surplus. They’re not a cost.”

While acknowledging pressures from what he called an “unorganised inflow” following Brexit, he said immigration has been overstated in political debate. “We’ve got a lot of problems in this country,” he said, “and among the lower order are the pressures generated by immigration.”

He said Reform UK’s approach follows a broader political pattern. “They make it up as they go along. They do the Trump thing. ‘I never said that.’ Or, if they can’t escape, they double down on the lies.”

Recent policy shifts, he suggested, underline that approach. “Days ago they said they couldn’t retain the triple lock on pensions. Now they say they will keep it by radically cutting benefits. Disbelief is the only sensible response.”

For Kinnock, this style of politics has been amplified by social media. Views once confined to private conversations now circulate widely. “They used to be heard at about quarter past ten in the pub, but never got mass circulation.”

He was also critical of the media, arguing Reform UK has benefited from being “an easy source of a cheap story,” receiving “much fairer treatment than it has ever deserved.”

Deep roots of discontent

Yet Kinnock stressed that Reform UK’s appeal cannot be understood in isolation. The grievances it taps into, he said, have been building for decades.

He traced dissatisfaction back to the decline of coal, steel and manufacturing from the 1980s, which he said happened “without any preparation, without any compensation,” leaving lasting damage across Welsh communities.

Closures such as Oakdale colliery in 1989 were “devastating,” he said, contributing to a sense of abandonment that has deepened over time. “That sense of dissatisfaction and being left behind has developed over decades.”

Brexit and protest vote

That same sense of grievance, Kinnock argued, also shaped Wales’ vote for Brexit.

“The majority weren’t driven by racism or ignorance. They were voting in hope,” he said, describing voters who felt deserted after years of austerity and were receptive to promises of renewal.

Those promises, he warned, have not been fulfilled. Wales had benefited financially from EU membership, and this support, he said, had not been fully replaced. “Wales was getting a cash advantage from being in the European Union.”

Pressure on Labour

The challenge now falls to the Labour Party as it approaches a “very, very difficult” Senedd election.

After 27 years in power, Labour faces the pressures of incumbency alongside long-term underfunding. “Wales has been consistently underfunded for over a decade, with cumulative consequences, particularly in the health service,” Kinnock said.

He pointed to low incomes, chronic illness, GP shortages and long waiting lists as key drivers of dissatisfaction, alongside structural challenges such as a dispersed population and fewer large cities.

“Put all that together and you have a perfect formula for political difficulty,” he said.

Despite this, he argued Labour retains strengths, including leadership under First Minister Eluned Morgan and recent investment commitments.

“There’s a lot more to be done,” he said, “but there is a determination to deliver fairness you can feel.”

Shifting landscape

Kinnock also highlighted gains made by Plaid Cymru, which he said has benefited from wider dissatisfaction with the political status quo.

“They are the beneficiaries of rejection of the established order,” he said, adding that while independence may be less openly discussed, the ambition remains and, in his view, would be damaging for Wales.

At the same time, Plaid’s positioning as a social democratic alternative offers voters seeking change a different route.

The path ahead

Ultimately, Kinnock argued that addressing the underlying causes of dissatisfaction is key to countering both Reform UK and Plaid Cymru.

“A Welsh Government formed by either would seriously impede progress,” he said. “Wales cannot afford that in a time of swirling change.”

Reflecting on his connection to the country, he added: “I spend more time in London now, but that doesn’t diminish my love for the people who gave me all of my life chances.”

He said the task for Labour is not just electoral survival but restoring confidence and reducing the insecurities other parties seek to exploit rather than resolve.