Gerwyn Price backs Reform UK ahead of Senedd Elections

Stephen Price

Dan Thomas, Reform UK Wales Leader, has thanked darts champion and fellow ‘Valleys boy’ Gerwyn Price for his support ahead of the Senedd election on 7 May.

Gerwyn Price is one of the UK’s leading darts players, currently ranked world number seven; he was ranked world number one on three occasions from 2021 to 2022 and won the PDC World Championship in 2021.

Price famously opened a fish and chip shop in his home town of Markham, Caerphilly.

Sharing the news of his support for Reform, the Welsh Reform leader wrote: “Thrilled to have the support of the Iceman. From one Valleys boy to another, thank you, Gerwyn. Let’s deliver change for Wales on May 7.”

Thrilled to have the support of the Iceman @Gezzyprice. 🎯

From one Valleys boy to another, thank you, Gerwyn. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Let’s deliver change for Wales on May 7. pic.twitter.com/q0DTd6J3NA

— Dan Thomas (@DanWalesReform) April 28, 2026

Earlier this month, Price beat Ross Smith 8-6 to win the European Darts Grand Prix in Sindelfingen.

It was Price’s 10th European Tour title and the Welshman is only the second player to reach double figures after Michael van Gerwen.

Price had beaten Chris Dobey, Martin Schindler and Wessel Nijman earlier on Sunday before inflicting Smith’s fourth straight defeat in a European Tour final.

Three-time world champion Van Gerwen was a 6-2 quarter-final casualty to fellow Dutchman Nijman.

“I think me and Ross probably both tried a bit too hard in that game,” Price said.

“We have both had great tournaments and I was just struggling to get over the winning line.

“Thankfully, I won this one and it will give me a bit of confidence going forward.

“I have been in the PDC about 12 years now so one a year on average is not that great is it so I need to buck my ideas up.

“I have got a tough game against Gian van Veen up next in Liverpool in the Premier League but I can go there now full of confidence and build on this.”

Misinformation

Earlier this year, Price blamed Plaid Cymru for school transport cuts in an online post, despite the council responsible having been run by Labour for over a decade.

His comments come during a broader wave of misinformation on social media ahead of the upcoming Senedd election this May.

In the Facebook post, Price says he “wonders how all the Caerphilly voters feel now with the newly locally elected Plaid”, blaming the party for cuts by the local council which will take away free transport for pupils within two miles of their secondary school.

He added: “Imagine a brand new year 7. 12 year old girl or boy especially girls having to do this in all weather conditions in the middle of winter, not only that but the state of the streets in the UK at this moment in time with young women and girls being very valuable [sic]…”

Except, Plaid Cymru were not recently elected to run Caerphilly County Borough Council. The council covering the area has been under the majority control of Labour since 2012.

The recent Caerphilly by-election saw Plaid Cymru candidate Lindsay Whittle elected to the Senedd, but local school transport provisions are not the responsibility of politicians in the Welsh Parliament. These tend to be managed by local councillors.

The post went on to accumulate thousands of interactions despite the erroneous claims put forward by the Welsh darts star, who hails from the town of Markham within the Caerphilly county borough.

Price came out ahead of the Caerphilly by-election last year to give his support to the Reform party. After Plaid Cymru came out on top in the result, he said that Reform UK “will be waiting in their shadows” ahead of the 2026 Senedd Election.

Plaid Cymru holds a narrow lead over Reform UK in a new Senedd election poll, while Labour has fallen to fifth place.

The survey by Find Out Now, conducted between April 18 and 22, puts Plaid Cymru on 29%, ahead of Reform UK on 27%.

The Welsh Conservatives are third on 13%, followed by the Green Party on 11%.

Welsh Labour has slipped to 10%, down from 18% in a previous poll in June, placing the party fifth, while the Welsh Liberal Democrats stand on 6%.

The poll also found strong scepticism about the future of the NHS under a Reform-led government.

A majority of voters, 55% to 16%, said they did not believe the NHS would be safe under Reform. When undecided respondents were excluded, that margin widened to 77% to 23%.

The findings are based on a sample of 2,012 adults across Great Britain, with results weighted to be representative of Wales by age, gender, region, Welsh language ability and 2024 general election vote.

Only respondents who said they were “definitely” or “very likely” to vote were included in the headline voting intention figures. Those who initially answered “don’t know” were prompted again, with remaining undecided voters excluded from the final calculation.

The methodology also filtered out those who did not vote at the last general election unless they said they were certain to vote this time.

The poll was commissioned by Plaid Cymru, although Find Out Now said the methodology was consistent with its previous Welsh polling.

Wider margin

The latest findings differ slightly from an Ipsos poll published earlier this week, which also put Plaid Cymru in the lead but with a wider margin.

That survey had Plaid on 30% and Reform UK on 25%, with Labour on 15% and the Conservatives on 12%, suggesting a more competitive race for second place and a stronger showing for Labour than in the latest figures.

While both polls point to Plaid Cymru leading the field, the Find Out Now survey indicates a tighter contest with Reform UK and a sharper decline in Labour support, underlining the volatility of the race ahead of polling day.