Former MP says Labour founder would turn in his grave at the thought of Farage visiting his statue

Martin Shipton

Labour Party founder Keir Hardie would turn in his grave at the thought of Nigel Farage posing for a picture by his statue, according to Beth Winter, a former Labour MP now standing as a Community Independent in the Senedd election.

Reform UK leader Farage and Dan Thomas, the man he appointed as the party’s leader in Wales, visited the Hardie statue in Aberdare, during a whistlestop trip to Wales.

Hardie won the English seat of West Ham South as an independent candidate at the 1892 general election, and helped to form the Independent Labour Party (ILP) the following year. He lost his seat in 1895, but was re-elected to Parliament in 1900 for Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales. During the same year, he helped to form the union-based Labour Representation Committee, which was later renamed the Labour Party.

After the 1906 general election, Hardie was chosen as the Labour Party’s first parliamentary leader. He resigned in 1908 in favour of Arthur Henderson, and spent his remaining years campaigning for causes such as women’s suffrage, self-rule for India, and opposition to World War I. He died in 1915 while attempting to organise a pacifist general strike. Hardie is seen as a key figure in the history of the Labour Party and has been the subject of multiple biographies. Historian Kenneth O Morgan has called him “Labour’s greatest pioneer and its greatest hero”.

Ms Winter was the MP for Cynon Valley from 2019 to 2024, during which time she was the only Welsh member of the left-wing Socialist Campaign group. When her seat disappeared due to boundary changes, she was defeated by right-wing Labour MP Gerald Jones for the right to stand as the party’s candidate in the new seat of Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare.

Now an Independent candidate standing for the Senedd in Pontypridd, Cynon Merthyr, she has issued a blistering statement attacking Reform and promoting socialist values.

‘Proud’

After herself visiting the Hardie statue, she issued the statement, which said: “I am proud to be standing here once again next to the statue of a true socialist, Keir Hardie, in Aberdare. He would turn in his grave if he knew Reform had been here today.

“Now ‘It is time for change’ is something I am being told every day on the doorstep. And I agree.

“People across our valleys are fed up – fed up with being ignored, with broken promises, with feeling like nothing ever really changes. I feel that too.

“But I must be honest with you, as I always am. Reform, led by Nigel Farage, is not the answer. The truth of the matter is that Reform is completely embedded in the political establishment. It represents everything that is wrong with the current system and will make things far, far worse for us – make the rich richer, exploit us, extract the wealth from our valleys, privatise the NHS, destroy workers’ rights. The list goes on.

“Farage is a millionaire and Reform is backed by multi-millionaires. They don’t care one jot about our valleys.

“We can see this by the way they parachute into our valleys, like Farage today for a photo opportunity, and then leave straightaway. We all know that Farage is rarely in his own constituency and has refused to hold face to face surgeries with local people. Is that what we want here?

“And the lies! Promising to re-open coal mines. Re-open the blast furnaces in Port Talbot. Impossible.

“Reform does not offer real change. All it offers is hate, blame, division. It wants our communities to turn on each other.

“The real enemy is not the family next door or the person down the street or the people just trying to make ends meet.

“The real enemy is the rich and powerful who hoard the wealth, and this includes the leaders of Reform.

“I firmly believe there is another way. It means us choosing to come together. That’s where real change comes from – communities standing side by side not being pulled apart. People working together, not being turned against one another.”

‘Support each other’

She added: “We have always been strongest in the valleys when we lead the way together. When we support each other. Build together.

“That’s the kind of politics I believe in. And is why I am standing as a Community Independent in the Senedd election.

“I am part of this community. I live here. I work here. I understand what matters because it matters to me too. I will not be beholden to any establishment party. I will only be answerable to the people of our valleys.

“I will stand side by side with you to defend our public services, for our NHS, for workers, for families. Together we will build a better future for everyone in our valleys.

“If you want real change please join me and together let’s make sure we have a strong voice for our valets in the Senedd.”