Failed Caerphilly by-election candidate lashes out at Welsh journalists

Emily Price 

Reform UK’s failed Caerphilly by-election candidate has lashed out at Welsh journalists in an essay published alongside contributions from the country’s most senior politicians.

Llŷr Powell joined First Minister Eluned Morgan, leader of Plaid Cymru Rhun ap Iorwerth, Welsh Conservative leader Darren Millar and leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds, in writing a column for Carnegie UK and the Institute of Welsh Affairs setting out their long-term vision for the nation’s future.

It’s understood that the leaders were approached by project organisers in December – a month prior to Reform UK coronating former London councillor Dan Thomas as its Welsh leader.

Senior figures from across the political spectrum were each asked to respond to the question: What kind of country do you want Wales to be two decades from now?

Contributors were encouraged to set out a long‑term, positive vision for the nation, considering how today’s decisions shape the opportunities of tomorrow.

While Wales’ leaders reflected on devolution, the Welsh NHS, education standards, climate change and farming, Powell used his essay to condemn Welsh journalists, claiming some reporters had set Wales’ political system “back by a generation”.

He wrote: “I know from my own experience in recent months the hostility that is shown to political outsiders from the establishment here in Wales.

“While it’s understandable that political parties want to rail against a newcomer party threatening their seats, it has been shocking to see the media, often state-funded, rallying around the establishment.

“Something that needs to be changed if we’re going to have a Senedd that is fairly scrutinised is the media landscape in Wales.

“There are many fantastic, hardworking reporters in Wales, but in many cases they are stretched too thin.

“We need more journalists here, from more organisations, shining a light on what goes on in the cafes of Cardiff Bay and the corridors of Cathays Park.

“The solution is not more taxpayer funded reporters. We’ve seen this tried in Wales and it has set our political system back by a generation.

“A mature democratic ecosystem should not be handing taxpayers’ money to blatant partisans posing as journalists to defend a failed consensus. That is frankly beneath us here in Wales, and the Welsh people deserve far better.”

Scandal

Powell stood as the Reform UK candidate for the Caerphilly Senedd by-election in October last year following the sudden death of incumbent Labour MS Hefin David.

Despite high expectations and heavy campaigning by key Reform figures, including leader Nigel Farage, Powell finished second to Plaid Cymru’s Lindsay Whittle.

The Nathan Gill Russian bribery scandal significantly impacted Powell’s campaign, with questions about what he knew of his former employer’s crimes becoming a central point of attack for his political opponents.

During his campaign, Powell claimed his door was kicked in and described receiving death threats, verbal abuse and being spat at.

He is now mounting another bid for the Senedd after being selected as Reform’s lead candidate for the Blaenau Gwent, Caerffili and Rhymni constituency.

In his essay published today (April 2), Powell described his party as “the most transparent” Cardiff Bay will ever see.

He wrote: “I am optimistic that, with the one-party state set to break up here in Wales in May, and with politics in Wales becoming more competitive, the media interest will increase.

“What I can say from a Reform point of view is that we are one of the most transparent political parties that will have ever been in Cardiff Bay if we’re lucky enough to be elected.

“When I stood in Caerphilly I barely said no to an interview before polling day. I’m proud that, almost every week, Nigel Farage takes questions from the press in front of the cameras.

“This is not a group of reporters who rely on him for funding, but a politically diverse press pool, covering politics in a range of formats for a range of audiences.

“If we have an ecosystem of curious, inquisitive, independent and properly staffed media in Wales, the cosy links between the lobbying groups and the politicians will be properly scrutinised, and the Senedd can begin to step out of the darkness.”

Strategy

A core component of Reform UK’s strategy in Wales leading up to the May 7 election has been to accuse Welsh media outlets of holding a left-wing bias.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Wales “unequivocally condemned” these attacks, describing them as attempts to vilify the media and emulating “Trump-style” attacks on journalistic independence.

The union’s comments came after Nation.Cymru revealed that Reform UK’s head of communications had used a highly offensive expletive to describe Welsh journalist Will Hayward.

Leader Nigel Farage has also hit out at BBC Wales, accusing the broadcaster of left-wing bias because its interim director of nations Rhuanedd Richards had previously worked for Plaid Cymru.

Earlier this year, Reform UK instructed a barrister to bully Nation.Cymru with threats of legal action in an attempt to block our critical coverage.

The same barrister also issued legal threats to The Guardian regarding the newspaper’s intention to publish claims that Farage had made racist comments during his school days.

Nazi salute

Nation.Cymru is unapologetic in its editorial approach to covering Reform UK’s scandals.

We were instrumental in exposing the racist text message sent by Reform MS Laura Anne Jones, which led to an investigation and subsequent 14-day suspension from the Senedd.

In recent days, we were the first outlet to reveal an image of Reform Senedd election candidate Corey Edwards performing a Nazi salute.

The revelation caused significant disruption to the Reform’s election campaign, leading to Edwards’ resignation and intensified scrutiny of the party’s candidate vetting process.

Reform UK figures have in turn vilified Nation.Cymru’s reporters branding the outlet a “far-left” Welsh Government funded “nationalist blog”.

Nation.Cymru currently receives a grant from the Books Council of Wales which we use to help promote Welsh books, magazines and culture writers.

Unfortunately for Reform, if we were to lose this grant, it would make no difference to our operation whatsoever and our scrutiny of Welsh politicians would continue unchanged.

Banned

Nation.Cymru, Will Hayward and the Morning Star have all be been banned from attending Reform UK announcements, such as their manifesto launch, as well as being blocked from receiving the party’s press releases.

Morning Star Wales reporter David Nicholson says Powell’s claims of being part of one the “most transparent” parties in Wales ring hallow given the banning of certain media outlets.

He said: “The Morning Star doesn’t get any public funding whatsoever.

“In fact, during the Covid-19 pandemic when Westminister tried to help media outlets by putting paid for government advertising into publications, we refused to put any adverts into the Morning Star.

“We are one of those very few papers that not only don’t receive any direct funding, we don’t get any indirect funding by way of advertising revenue.

“We may not agree with Reform UK politically – but it’s about having that engagement of ideas.

“If you say that you are transparent, then having newspapers report on you that don’t agree with you is part of politics.

“Not everyone can agree with everyone else – that’s the whole point of having an election and having it reported from different viewpoints.”

The full essay collection by Mr Powell and Wales’ four political leaders is available here.