Arron Banks may stand for the Senedd – Reform source

Martin Shipton

Controversial Brexit donor Arron Banks is involved in assessing would-be Reform UK candidates for next year’s Senedd election, and may stand for election himself, we have been told.

The self-styled “Bad Boy of Brexit” is a close associate of Nigel Farage and was the biggest donor to the Leave.EU campaign, one of the two major groups campaigning for the UK to quit the EU at the 2016 referendum.

In recent weeks Mr Banks’ output on X – formerly Twitter – has contained a lot of Wales-related content.

He has been critical of the Welsh Government over a variety of issues, including its 20mph speed limit policy, its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) spending and its “Nation of Sanctuary” initiative.

Mr Banks has also attacked Plaid Cymru, posting in response to a Plaid party broadcast: “Anyone that thinks more socialism is the answer to Wales’ problems needs medical advice.”

Welsh history

Perhaps surprisingly, he has been supportive of the Welsh language, posting a message which stated: “Every school kid in Wales should learn Welsh & know Welsh history, and be proud of it.”

He has also engaged in spats on X with former WalesOnline journalist Will Hayward.

A Reform insider told Nation.Cymru: “Arron is a very important figure in Reform and is taking a particular interest in the party’s progress in Wales, where some polls have shown it overtaking Labour.

“He certainly has a role in assessing possible candidates for next year’s Senedd election. The party is keen to avoid the splits that occurred after seven UKIP AMs were elected in 2016 and the group soon fell apart.

“It is quite likely that Arron will seek to stand himself, especially if he thought he had a chance of becoming leader of the party in Wales and First Minister.

“He sometimes comes across as brash, but that’s an image he cultivates, like Boris Johnson cultivates his image as an oaf. Aaron is in fact highly intelligent as well as being mischievous. He’ll think he can do a better job than the rest of them.”

To qualify to stand Mr Banks would need to have a home in Wales. While he doesn’t at present, he could easily buy a property, the Reform insider told us.

Donations

In November 2017, the Electoral Commission announced that it was investigating whether election rules were broken during the EU referendum, in donations worth a total of £8.4 million to Leave.EU campaigners made by Banks and by Better for the Country Ltd, a company of which Mr Banks was a registered director.

The National Crime Agency investigated Leave.EU, Banks as well as other individuals and entities, following the referral of material from a second Electoral Commission investigation. The referral was announced amid concerns that Banks was not the true source of £8m donated to Leave.EU. In September 2019 the National Crime Agency said it had found no evidence of criminality after investigating a series of claims against the Brexit campaign group Leave.EU and Arron Banks. The NCA said: “It will therefore take no further action against Mr Banks, Better for the Country Ltd or Leave.EU in respect of this specific matter.”

From September 2015, Banks, along with Andy Wigmore, had multiple meetings with Russian officials posted at the Russian embassy in London. In November 2015, Alexander Yakovenko, the Russian ambassador, introduced Banks to a Russian businessman, which was followed by other business proposals on the part of Russians. Banks was offered a chance to invest in Russian-owned gold or diamond mines; the deal involved funding from a Russian state-owned bank, and was announced 12 days after the Brexit referendum. It is not clear if Banks invested.

‘Boozy lunch’

For two years, Banks said his only contacts with the Russian government consisted of one “boozy lunch” with the ambassador. After The Observer reported that he had had multiple meetings at which he had been offered lucrative business deals, Banks told a parliamentary inquiry into fake news he had had “two or three” meetings. In July 2018 when pressed by The New York Times, he said there had been a fourth meeting. The Observer has seen evidence that suggests his Leave.EU campaign team met with Russian embassy officials as many as 11 times in the run-up to the EU referendum and in the two months beyond.

It has been reported that on November 12 2016, Banks had a meeting with president-elect Donald Trump in Trump Tower and that upon return to London, Banks had lunch with the Russian ambassador where they discussed the Trump visit.

In a defamation claim against the Welsh journalist Carole Cadwalladr, Banks was awarded £35,000 in damages and 60% of his costs. Banks said he was defamed after comments Cadwalladr made about his relationship with the Russian state.Banks initially lost his case in the High Court but partly succeeded in the Court of Appeal. The Appeal Judges ruled he was due damages for a Ted Talk given by Cadwalladr. While covered by a public interest defence when it was originally given, that defence fell away on 29 April 2020 when the Electoral Commission issued a statement that Banks did not commit any criminal offence. The Court of Appeal found the views of the Ted Talk after this date caused Banks serious harm, hence the damages. All other points of the appeal by Banks were dismissed.

This legal action carried out by Banks was considered by 19 press freedom organisations to be a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) and abuse of law.

In 2023, following Banks’ partial success in an appeal, Cadwalladr was ordered to pay about £1.2 million in legal costs[81] Afterwards, Cadwalladr set up a crowdfunding site to help fund her defence. Banks has called it “vindication”

Belize

In 2018 Mr Banks revealed that he had been the accredited representative of a Central American country in Wales for nearly two years, despite hardly anyone knowing about it.

Mr Banks said on Twitter that he had been “Honorary Consul for Cardiff” on behalf of Belize, a former British colony previously known as British Honduras.

In fact Mr Banks, a multi-millionaire businessman based in Bristol, meant Honorary Consul to Wales – a post he held from June 10, 2015, until March 15, 2017, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) confirmed.

His previously unacknowledged role came to light during a Twitter exchange with Cadwalladr, who had been looking into links between Mr Banks and Russia.