Humiliating defeats for Reform UK in Welsh council by-elections
Martin Shipton
Reform UK has suffered humiliating defeats in two council by-elections caused by the election of previous Reform councillors to the Senedd.
In both seats, Reform was pushed into third place.
The results reflect a recent dip in polling figures for Reform, likely to have been caused by a combination of factors, including concerns about extremist statements made by many of its politicians, chaos at councils in England that the party controls and continuing revelations about the £5m donation made to Nigel Farage by billionaire crypto currency businessman Christopher Harborne who lives in Thailand.
At Llangennech in Carmarthenshire, Plaid Cymru’s candidate Iwan Griffiths won with 483 votes (41.4%), ahead of Labour’s Jordan Sargent with 338 (28.9%) and Reform’s Gavin Rashbrook 283 (24.2). Conservative candidate Craig Griffiths got 38 votes (3.3%), Independent Sean Hogan 11 (0.9%), the Green Party’s Michael Willis 8 (0.7%) and the Liberal Democrats’ Justin Griffiths 7 (0.6%).
In the last full Carmarthenshire County Council elections in 2022, Labour won both seats in the two-seat ward.
Following the death of Labour councillor Gary Jones, who was a well-known anti-fascist campaigner, Reform’s Carmelo Colasanto won a by-election in August 2025 to become his party’s second member of Carmarthenshire County Council. On May 7 this year, Mr Colasanto was elected to the Senedd to represent Sir Gaerfyrddin. As required by law, he resigned his seat on the council, causing the latest by-election.
Reform was also defeated in Merthyr Tydfil’s Dowlais and Pant ward, where Labour’s Dean Barrett became the new councillor after getting 356 votes (40.1%). Independent candidate Nick Meaney got 215 votes (24.2%),
Reform’s Terry Donegan got 160 (18.0%), Plaid Cymru’s James Cushen got 125 (14.1%), the Green Party’s Janeen Davies 20 (2.3%) and Conservative candidate Roxanne Richardson 11(1.2%).
The by-election was caused by the resignation of the previous councillor, David Hughes, who was elected last month as an MS in Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr. In 2022 Mr Hughes was elected as an Independent councillor, but defected to Reform in June 2025, being unveiled personally as a prestigious new recruit to the party by Nigel Farage at a rally in Port Talbot.
In Treorchy, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Plaid Cymru’s candidate Richard Clarke had a landslide victory with 1147 votes (70.8%). Reform’s Craig Ford, a former Welsh Conservative press officer who defected to Reform immediately before the by-election, came a distant second with 260 votes (16.0%), followed by Labour’s David Morris with 164 (10.1%), Conservative candidate Cerys Walker with 27 (1.7%) and the Green Party’s Daniel Buck with 23 (1.4%).
The by-election was caused by the election of previous Plaid councillor Sera Evans to the Senedd, where she represents Afan Ogwr Rhondda.
Plaid Cymru did, however, suffer a setback in a Denbighshire County Council by-election at Llanrhaeadr-yng-Nghinmeirch for the seat previously held by the party’s Elfed Williams, who resigned after winning election to the Senedd, where he represents Bangor Conwy Mon. The council by-election was won by Independent candidate Ian Evans with 283 votes (46.2%), ahead of Plaid Cymru’s Hefin Edwards on 242 (39.5%), Reform’s Nigel Deed on 47 (7.7%), Independent Cai Williams on 24 (3.9%) and the Conservatives’ Beryl Wynne on 17 (2.8%).
There was some consolation for Reform at a by-election in Denbighshire County Council’s Rhyl South ward, where it took a seat previously held by Labour. Reform’s Tony Thomas won with 44.3% of the vote, followed by Plaid Cymru’s Bleddyn Rhys on 23.9%, Labour’s Crispin Jones on 19.6%, the Conservatives’ Gloria Lambert on 10%, the Liberal Democrats’ Keith Kirwan on 1.5% and the Greens’ Desmond Rooney on 0.7%.
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There is hope then.
Just have to suffer the 34 farage minions for a few more years then.
Or until they commit a crime/their social media history comes back to haunt them/they decide it’s too much like hard work (delete where applicable).
For the majority of them, this will be ‘when’ rather than ‘if.
Unfortunately with the new Senedd electoral system there won’t be by-elections if they resign, the seat will just go to the next person within the party list.
I bet a bunch of them will defect to Restore by the end of this term which is a terrifying thought. Again another situation that the electoral system handles badly as there isn’t really a way to stop it unless the Llywydd rules that they have to sit as a group of independents rather than a official parliamentary group (which is technically possible with the current standing orders, though obviously hasn’t been tested).
So it seems the bigoted bubble has burst for Reform in Wales. A party bankrolled by billionaires, with access to far-right TV stations like GB News and TalkTV, still could not win the Senedd election or retain vacated council seats. It only confirms that Reform will eventually go the way of the dodo, and that those extremists within will scamper back into the shadows whence they came.
Seems that way, just wish it had happened before 34 of them got elected to the Senedd where they will have a minimal contribution to improving things for the people of Wales. I still hold hope that some of them will help make improvements with their life experience in particular areas, but I’m not holding my breath.
Nige is their boss. They will do what he says unless they defect.
Reform getting hammered in by elections is the least of Nige’s worries at the moment.
Does taking a bung from a crypto billionaire make one a Crypto Fascist?
The 5 million bung is what we know about, apart from his declarations that sometimes he forgets to file. That does make him techy and I hope that it tears him a new one but Starmer had some glasses and suits and the press went mental, Rayner a tax error and the press went mental. Tice and his taxes and farage with a 5 million bung from a crypto bloke that wants the UK deregulated, usual suspect press are absent. Not sure this will really go anywhere. Don’t forget the people that keep farage in power, they want results. He… Read more »
Nice one.
You’re welcome, Amir.
Nice one! Though there was really nothing particularly cryoto about their fascism – scratch them and it was always there.
You’re welcome too, Padi.
Unfortunately, when we had seven UKIP Assembly Members elected via the list system in 2016, they spent four years doing absolutely nothing positive, instead fighting and bickering among themselves before being ejected in 2021. What a waste of space. It shows how Nigel Farage, like many accomplished fraudsters, can continually groom and hypnotise the electorate. Where some learn from their past mistakes; others repeat them.
They managed to line their pockets and there still benefitting financially from being Assembly members.
Sometimes it is better to allow voters to elect a party, see them fail and then that party will not be elected again as voters will stop listening to the nonsense.
Plus if the Senedd has to function on agreements between Plaid Cymru / Labour to get votes through, it still should function.
Sir Kier Starmer of London, England has shown that having a landslide does not mean anything!
A little ray of sunshine to enjoy during this horrendous heat wave.
Well done Llangennech.
Huge thanks to all the voters in all areas who turned out to crush ‘HATE UK’ but the most pleasing part of these results was that in Treorci where Mr last minute switch, who thought it was clever to do so, got ABSOLUTELY MULLERED! Da iawn pobl Treorci.
Reform have picked Merthyr to be their main entry point into Cymru.
They aren’t a happy lot today.
Well done to the majority of people in Llangennech for coming to your senses, and what a stunning result in Treorci.
Excellent news, although they do seem to strangely enjoy being humiliated.
Sorry Putin, Wales isn’t for you.
And this is what we need to do EVERYWHERE in EVERY single election. The fash vote ALWAYS turns out for the local elections. ALWAYS. But we outnumber them EVERYWHERE. Though since most of US aren’t ideological zealots, sometimes we don’t bother for the smaller elections. that needs to change to defend out country from the far right. Even if in every other way you don’t care about politics, vote against the right. Then go back towatever makes you happiest. We have a proud history of standing up for ourselves and for the people. And it’s that time again. ¡No pasarán!… Read more »
Excellent contribution. EVERY SINGLE ELECTION now, no matter how small, is THE opportunity to CRUSH Nazism and we MUST attend all of them to crush it. People are getting this message already as shown in yesterdays’ by elections. Look where voter apathy got us 10 years ago this month. No more of this. As Spaceboy almost said ‘Nazism is coming to you. You either vote back or you die’.
Why would anyone vote for these perpetual losers when their own councillors are getting fed up and quitting?
https://www.lgcplus.com/politics/governance-and-structure/its-like-a-cult-why-some-councillors-quit-reform-24-06-2026/
Da iawn Llangennech. Mae ysbryd arwrol y Beasleys yn y tir o hyd. Llawer o bobl wrth-Gymraeg yn yr ardal gwaetha’r modd, yn Gymry plastig ac yn wladychwyr,
Whilst you can’t extrapolate confidently from tiny voter numbers in local by-elections to higher profile elections I do find a glimmer of hope in it not having gone well for Reform.
A glimmer of hope for Welsh Labour.
More than a glimmer if they separate off from their parent and make their own way in Welsh life.
It is being shackled to English Labour that cost them my vote. and of course Plaid had earned it, by standing unswervingly with ALL peoples of our nation at a time when scapegoating and hatred is currently de rigeur in politricks
The people of the South Wales Valleys don’t much fancy far right racist English Nationalists running their affairs by the seems of things. And they’d be right. These people and their ancestors are the cause of many of the problems that currently exist in the Valleys not the answer
From Clawdd Offa to The Irish Sea
Cymru will be Fascist Free
I’d been quite happy that they’d been winning seats in constituencies and councils before the general election. I know that they could still cause so much damage on this sort of level. Still, I’d much rather that people got to experience their leadership like this and were able to learn from Farage’s failures and get the idea of a party/company like this being good for them out of their systems before they were able to do it on a UK-wide and even global scale in 2029. Of course, I’m aware that many of their attacks on people have already been… Read more »
Farage’s failures? He is a one trick pony, he works for whoever bungs him. They are wreckers, not builders.
Anyone heard from White Van Dan or has he gone to ground again like his boss
He’s stuck in traffic leaving bath.