Carol Vorderman could enter politics in Wales
Hayley Jones
Welsh broadcaster and campaigner Carol Vorderman has said she would consider entering politics.
Speaking during an appearance on ITV’s Good Morning Britain this week, the Prestatyn-born presenter was asked whether she would ever consider standing as a politician. She said: “I’m asked so many times. I always said no, I wouldn’t say no now. I’d be an independent.”
Her comments come ahead of the next Senedd election on 7 May, which will use a voting system with a proportional voting designed to make representation more reflective of the votes cast.
Ms Vorderman is a long-time supporter of proportional voting, in 2023 she campaigned for the system alongside actor Steve Coogan . She describes the Senedd method of voting as a step toward fairer representation and a way to ensure that votes count more equally. She has criticised the first-past-the-post system for failing to reflect the will of voters and focusing only on marginal constituencies.
She added that this style of voting reduces tactical voting and gives citizens confidence that their voices are represented.
No fan of Reform or Farage
During her appearance on Good Morning Britain, Vorderman criticised Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
She said: “Farage is a total charlatan. He is privately educated, he mixes with the billionaires.”
The former Countdown presenter also defended Green Party MP Hannah Spencer, who won the Denton & Gorton by-election last month in a closely contested battle with Reform UK.
Ms Spencer had argued during her campaign that “working hard used to get you a nice life but now working class people work to line the pockets of billionaires”.
In her victory speech, she added she said that her campaign had “defeated the parties of billionaire donors”. Ms Vorderman referenced this during her ITV interview and said: “Hannah Spencer was very honest when she talked about how money has been taken from the working class and given to the rich.”
On comparing Farage to Trump, she said: “Trump says ‘fake news’ on a Monday, Farage says it on a Tuesday.”
Political engagement
Vorderman has also been involved in several UK-wide political campaigns. She took part in Channel 4’s coverage of the 2024 general election and published the book Now What?, which sets out her “mission to fix broken Britain.” She previously spearheaded a tactical voting campaign aimed at what she described as “destroying” the Conservatives, emphasising her position was always “anti-Tory” rather than “pro-Labour.”
The former BBC Wales broadcaster said: “I have never said ‘vote Labour’, other than tactically.”
Ms Vorderman has also engaged with Welsh political debate through publishing. She wrote the foreword to Welsh journalist Will Hayward’s new book Who Cares About Wales?, encouraging citizens to understand how the country is governed and hold representatives to account.
The girl from Prestatyn
Ms Vorderman maintains strong links with Wales and spends time at her home in Pembrokeshire. She also has a residence in Bristol but frequently emphasises her Welsh upbringing.
Raised in north Wales by a single mother, Vorderman attended a comprehensive school where she received free school meals. She earned a place at Cambridge University, studied engineering, and later became known as the “brainbox” on Channel 4’s Countdown.
She is a mother of two and has actively supported education in Wales through the Carol Vorderman Bursaries at Swansea University, giving £20,000 each year to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Almost 30 undergraduates are currently benefiting from the scheme.
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She’s far too educated, intelligent, genuine and caring to be useful as a politician.
Carol Vorderman and the new leader of Reform have something in common. They both really live in the west country of England. Her entry into broadcasting in Wales was from a BBC studio in Bristol. To ‘enter politics’ in Wales you have to live in the country to qualify as a candidate. Has she considered moving back to her homeland?
I quite agree. Much of what she says is great but she never mentioned being Welsh at the height of her Countdown fame and then in recent years when Wales were doing well at rugby, she would appear in a Welsh shirt…
It would be a ‘Ladies Fashion’ earthquake and no mistake, gone would be the Q-Ship camouflage and prints visible from space we know so well…
To cope with independence a sense of humour is essential…
A rare commodity in the Senedd…
She was born on the day before Christmas in the back of a Bedford van on the way to Prestatyn, sadly this affected any political ambitions she may have had in saving Cymru from a continuing fashion disaster at the polls…
Jesus had similar problems coming into the world I believe…
Go for it girl, we have given the others 27 years to get us nowhere near where we could have been with brave, competent non lawyer politicians on the job…
The van was registered in Swansea so I guess one could say, like an ocean liner, the country on the stern is home…
Plaid should snap her up, come on Rhun…
Nice person and clearly interested in better things for Wales. Also a nice change to see someone come from poorer background to make it in life due to her own efforts and not through nepotism.
Not a fan myself, but she really does now how to trigger the racists and the haters.
Carol Vorderman wasn’t born in North Wales.
She would get my vote.
The irony here is that the PR system she supports entirely eliminates the prospect of Independents winning seats. The Senedd members are now going to be chosen by party committees, not voters. Carol would need to join a party and ingratiate herself with the party insiders who decide what position she gets on the list.
She also needs to sort out the fact that she lives in Bristol and is is one of the second homeowners whom she usually berates for taking homes from Pembrokeshire locals. But that’s politicians for you isn’t it?