Former Conservative MS James Evans defects to Reform

Former Conservative politician James Evans has been unveiled as the latest defector to Reform UK before the Senedd elections in May.

He acknowledged that he had been critical of Reform in the past and had done so publicly but said “serious people, not career politicians, reassess when the reality refuses to go away”.

“I looked again, I listened, I read the detail,” Mr Evans said.

“I saw a movement that has grown and starts where the other parties refuse to start, with the truth that Britain is broken, that Wales is broken and nothing gets fixed until you’re willing to admit it. That’s why I am here.”

He added that Plaid Cymru and the Green Party would lead Wales on a “slow march” to the break-up of the United Kingdom.

“I’m proudly Welsh but I’m proudly British,” he added. “These things are not in conflict and we are stronger together as one United Kingdom.”

The current Senedd member for Brecon and Radnorshire was sacked by the Tories last month over suspicions he was planning to defect to Nigel Farage’s party.

Darren Millar, leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd, dismissed Mr Evans as shadow cabinet secretary for health and social care and withdrew the party whip.

Since then Mr Evans, who was first elected in 2021, has sat as an independent.

Reform had one Member of the Senedd after former Conservative Laura Anne Jones defected to join the party in July, and now have a second.

‘Led by Tories’

Welsh Labour said the unveiling of two former Conservative politicians at the Reform UK conference in Newport showed the party was “led by Tories”.

A spokesperson said: “Nigel Farage says there are no Tories in Wales – that’s because they’ve all jumped ship to Reform UK to save their own skins, with James Evans MS being the latest.

“And now we’ve got a man who was a London councillor until two months ago telling Wales what it needs.

“Ultimately it doesn’t matter who is named as Reform’s leader in Wales. They will just be Nigel Farage’s puppet, doing his bidding from Westminster and silencing the voices of the people of Wales.

“You can’t trust their leader. You can’t trust their words. Reform UK’s leader in Wales is another former Tory. Reform Wales: led by Tories.”

‘Recycled, washed-out Tories’

Rhun ap Iorwerth, the leader of Plaid Cymru, said the defection of two more ex-Tories should “come as no surprise to the people of Wales”, and described the party’s leader in Wales as “Farage’s lapdog”.

“Now, there is no doubt that Reform UK are simply recycled, washed-out Tories looking for a new political home now the Conservatives are dead in the water.”

He added: “It doesn’t matter who Farage has selected to represent him. The so-called leader’s sole responsibility will be to get Nigel Farage into No 10 Downing Street, because for Reform, Wales is nothing but a stepping stone.

“As was proven in the Caerphilly by-election and supported by opinion poll after opinion poll, only Plaid Cymru can stop Reform in the election on 7 May.

“Therefore, the people of Wales face a clear choice: a party that always stands up for Wales with Plaid Cymru, or Farage’s lapdog running our NHS and schools.”

Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Jane Dodds, said: “Less than a year ago, James Evans told the country that defecting to Reform without facing the voters was an act without principle. Now he has done exactly the same thing himself.

If he genuinely believes what he said then, there is only one credible course of action now. He should resign his seat and call a by-election, so voters can decide whether they want a Reform politician representing them.”