Labour Senedd candidate says the advantage of a Reform victory next May would be to expose Reform’s incompetence
Martin Shipton
The leader of Wales’ largest local authority told fellow members of the Labour Party that an advantage of Reform UK winning next May’s Senedd election would be that an administration it led would quickly be shown up as incompetent, we have been informed.
Huw Thomas, the leader of Cardiff council, is said to have made such a comment during a hustings meeting held at The Paget Rooms in Penarth in early November.
Cllr Thomas was seeking selection as a Labour Senedd candidate in the super-constituency of Caerdydd Penarth, which is made up of the two Westminster seats of Cardiff West and Cardiff South & Penarth.
Last week he emerged as winner of the selection contest and will be Labour’s leading candidate on the party’s closed list in the constituency. Caerdydd Penarth is one of 16 super-constituencies across Wales, each of which will elect six MSs. Having won Labour’s top slot, he is almost certain to be elected.
But a Labour source told Nation.Cymru: “I am absolutely shell shocked to hear that one of Welsh Labour’s most prominent and promoted candidates is openly talking about a Reform-led Welsh Government.
“This would shock a lot of people across the Welsh Labour movement. I know of nobody else in the Welsh Labour and Trade Union movement who thinks that a Reform government would be good for Wales.
“The people of Caerphilly saw through Reform and we do too. I can see why a poor result would benefit him personally as he could frame himself as saviour, but the people of Wales would suffer a Thatcherite Reform government if this happened.
“He should retract and apologise for this. This is a man who carefully calculates every public utterance. He is obviously a man in a hurry.”
The fact that a leading Welsh Labour figure can contemplate the possibility of a Reform victory in the Senedd election is an indication of the low expectations held by many in the party about Labour’s prospects.
Polls
UK-wide polls have consistently shown Reform in the lead during most of 2025, while in Wales recent polls have shown either Reform or Plaid Cymru in front.
In the wake of the Caerphilly by-election last month, when Plaid Cymru defeated Reform and Labour was pushed into a distant third place, Plaid are seeking to portray the Senedd election as a two-horse race between themselves and Reform.
A Plaid Cymru source told us: “There is no doubt that a Reform government in Wales would be utterly incompetent and take its orders from Nigel Farage in England. We know that Farage wants to slash public spending. He pretends it’s easy to do that by cutting out what he calls waste, but as the councils run by Reform in England are showing, it’s not as easy to identify significant savings as he tries to make out.
“Reform in government would be a disaster for Wales. They’d be cutting jobs and services, creating chaos and misery, and stirring up trouble against minorities..
“I’ve no doubt there are people in UK Labour who half wish that Reform will win in Wales so they are exposed as incompetent before the next general election, but it’s ridiculous for a politician in Wales to offer up our nation as a sacrifice to help Labour’s ambitions across the rest of the UK.”
The Senedd’s electoral system is now entirely proportional. No party is expected to win an overall majority in May, and there will inevitably be negotiations between parties before a new government is formed.
We asked Cllr Thomas to comment, but he did not do so.
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I think you condemn the Welsh to years of destruction. It will expose the racist farage and the party he owns as an idiot but how do you recover from this, don’t sell it out now. Fight that racist party. Farage has owners that want to buy Wales and use us to get No10, there will be nothing left for Labour to come back to or Plaid or any other party. You think Thatcher did a number on Wales, you ant seen anything if farage and his backers get in. But the Labour source better wake up and do something… Read more »
The Labour party is treating the people of Cymru with contempt and that includes those loyal party people such as yourself.
It will continue to do so.
What signs are there to make you think otherwise.
You really need to pay attention.
What’s that supposed to mean?
There’s more than a suspicion that Huw Thomas’ view is held not only by those that run Labour but also by some Labour people in Cymru.
Basically a nihilistic attitude or even worse a wish – if we can’t win better for Labour’s prospects if Reform do.
Again what signs are there to make you think otherwise?
So England would benefit from knowing that Reform are completely incompetent at government at Cymru’s expense – no thank you very much! Reform will trash our country, decimate our language and destroy our culture – it needs to be utterly defeated.
Another Labour politician who thinks that there is no limit to the price Cymru should pay to give Labour a chance for once in a while governing Great England and the other bits from Westminster
I actually think this is why the UK Labour Party is not getting involved in Welsh politics. They can throw us to Reform next spring, watch us go up in flames, then use that as the basis for a UK General Election victory in 2029. Then again, they’ve not involved themselves in 25 years (Michaels aside) which is perfectly understandable…
I think you’re crediting Labour Uk with rather more Machiavellian skills than they possess.
A bit like his mate Gething showing contempt for our electoral system with his toxic cashback, this one obviously doesn’t care about the interests of the electorate he’s meant to be serving – as long as it makes his dismal record look a little bit better.
The dismal track record of most if not all of the English local authorities which Reform took last May suggest that Councillor Thomas might well be correct in his prediction around Reform’s performance should it become our Senedd’s majority party.
But does anyone really think that five years of chaotic incompetence is a price worth paying just to demonstrate the point that Reform UK can’t hack it here any more than they can hack it anywhere else!
Great thinking Huw, with the public as guinea pigs.
That’s about the most ridiculous bit of white flag waving I’ve ever seen. Accepting that his lot will get thrashed and hoping that the others make a big mess of the following 5 years. He ought to be taken out and horsewhipped… and replaced on the list by other more committed members of his party.
That is what Clark did in opposition, somehow inhuman to profit from silence, to observe suffering and think it a good tactic. repeat offenders, a Pontius Pilate every one…
They know they have broken many laws hence the take over of the justice system by Lammy and Mahmood…anything Twmp can do…
Twmp and Clark have ‘thing’ so do Lammy and Vance…lockstep? I smell RATS, big ones…
It wouldn’t surprise me if he was not alone within the Labour Party in thinking this, especially among the Labour MPs. Letting Reform win, gives them an excuse to undermine devolution. Its very selfish thinking as well, don’t care about the Welsh national interest, just the interest of his party. But hey that’s Welsh Labour for you
This may well have been the plan before Caerphilly.
The article states that Thomas, “having won Labour’s top slot, is almost certain to be elected.” I would say that on current polling that is far from guaranteed. Thomas knows his party has no chance of winning next May, so he’d be quite satisfied to see Reform win so that the rest of the UK can see how incompetent they are. He must be sick in the head if that’s what he really thinks!! It is clear that if you want to stop Reform being the biggest party after next May’s election, there is only one party to vote for,… Read more »
I’ve been saying this for months that this is Labour’s plan, they’ll get a kicking for 25 years of putting the party before the people of Wales who they supposedly represent (not rule), their long term plan is to let Reform in and they come in as saviours/knights on their red horses to “save” Wales after 4 years of hell. It doesn’t matter if the people of Wales’ lives will be severely and negatively altered (think Thatcher with knobs on) as long as LABOUR look good and are then able to govern for a long time again, just shows that… Read more »
Staggering.
So prepared to throw Wales to the dogs. Inflict untold damage just to prove a point
The reality is its nigh on impossible for Reform to achieve a working majority even aligning with the Tories.
Despite a huge haircut in seats for Labour will still have sufficent to combine with Plaid to keep Reform at bay
FORECASTED SEATS
Plaid 35
Reform 34
Labour 17
Conservative 7
Lib Dem 2
Green 1
Parts of Englandshire are already revealing the incompetence of the Farage Fan Club without their idiocy needing to be inflicted on Wales, Mr. Thomas.
Indeed parts of Reform run Kent have even been without water for the last five days.
I may be wrong but not sure if Kent Water is run by the council?
Their patch and their watch.
So Kent Council runs the county’s water operations? Really? I’m all for blaming Reform but that doesn’t sound right to me.
Local government is responsible for local public services. That’s the whole point of local governmen. It doesn’t matter if they’ve been outsourced to someone else because you can’t outsource the responsibility.
Of course you can make this about Thatcher if you want. She disempowered local government and privatised water.
And that might wash if it weren’t for one small problem: Reform are proud Thatcherites. They fully support everything she did and have no plans to change it.
That’s why they own this debacle in Kent.
Completely agree with Huw on that lone advantage but as a nation we really can’t afford for this to happen.
That “Labour source” is trying to create a storm in a teacup! Someone upset that they weren’t the chosen candidate?
Huw Thomas must have felt sufficiently confident that what he said at the husting meeting in front of Labour party members would not be received badly by them..
Obviously he was right as he was appointed as their leading candidate. Certainly not a pariah. This rot goes wider and deeper than Mr Thomas
I guess the main question for Welsh Labour (and for PC to a certain extent) next Spring is “What on earth have you lot been doing for 25 years?” I’m not sure if there is any positive answer they can give. Therefore, their plans for the next 25 years better be damn good…
.. and be deliverable!
So Welsh Labour would rather see a vile racist English Nationalist Party running Wales than Plaid Cymru. Luckily however much this traitor wants this to happen it won’t be. Faridge simply won’t have the numbers so the best this clown can hope fir as a Labour MS is sorting out the Greggs order for the Plaid Cymru ministers
Eminently silly hyperbole. D’Hondt will almost certainly return a Plaid led coalition. The fact that Huw prefers to catastrophize suggests that he is having difficulty with the prospect of collaboration with another party.
Yes, fortunately a government that does not involve Reform is most likely – although I’m less sure about a formal coalition.
Setting your neighbour’s house alight will make you more aware of domestic fire safety, but it’s not recommended.