MS faced expulsion from Reform UK before shock Plaid Cymru defection

Emily Price 

Sarah Cooper-Lesadd was on the verge of being expelled from Nigel Farage’s party when she defected to Plaid Cymru, a senior Reform UK official has claimed.

The Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg Member of the Senedd issued a damning statement on Tuesday (September 15) setting out her reasons for her shocking move from the right to the left of the political spectrum.

Cooper-Lesadd, who was elected to the Senedd under Farage’s banner just four months ago, accused Reform’s group in the Senedd of actively wanting the Welsh Government to fail without any regard for how that failure would impact Welsh people.

First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth welcomed the 31-year-old former Conservative to his party saying she had been “inspired” by Plaid’s vision for Wales.

Cooper-Lesadd’s defection came amid another blow for Reform with news of Welsh leader Dan Thomas’ decision to step down breaking at around the same time.

He had been arrested at the weekend on suspicion of assault and engaging in controlling or coercive behaviour. Thomas says he has done nothing wrong.

Cooper-Lesadd’s defection sparked strong criticism from Reform UK’s director of external affairs Matthew MacKinnon over democratic legitimacy due to the voting system used to elect her.

Under the new closed-list proportional system, voters did not cast their ballots for individual names, they voted directly for the political party.

There is no legislative requirement for an MS to resign or face a public vote if they switch parties or choose to sit as an independent.

In a post to X, MacKinnon called for Cooper-Lessad to quit her Senedd seat, claiming she was on the verge of being ousted from Farage’s party shortly before she announced her defection to Plaid.

He wrote: “On the verge of being expelled from the party and jumps ship before being pushed.

“Sarah Cooper-Lesadd represents the worst of our politics.

“Lied to and manipulated assessors throughout a new party selection process to ensure her election.

“Refused to open a constituency office.

“Refused to speak or acknowledge to colleagues and staff.

“Only speaks about herself on social media, the opposite of a team player.

“Once elected claimed she didn’t believe in many of Reform’s policies she believed in during her selection and election campaign.

“Openly admitted in a recent anauthorised media interview that she used Reform to get herself elected and wants to pursue her own agenda and not that of the party.

“She was elected on a list system under a Reform banner with a clear intention to pursue her own agenda and not Reform UK Wales.

“She was not elected as an independent. She has shamefully manipulated the party and the electorate. She should resign.”

Political commentators criticised MacKinnon’s admission that Reform’s elected representatives in the Senedd require authorisation to speak to the media.

He later shared a clip to X of the Senedd Sources podcast in which Cooper-Lesadd described her political beliefs as “centre-right” adding that her decision to join Reform UK was “pragmatic”.

During the interview, the Plaid Cymru newcomer also appeared to nod in agreement when the interviewer suggested she could find a political home in any of the Senedd’s political parties.

MacKinnon said Cooper-Lesadd “knew her days were numbered” when Reform UK’a headquarters saw the interview clip which aired at the end August.

Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd MS Iain McIntosh responded to MacKinnon’s comments saying Cooper-Lesadd had “stuck two fingers up to her constituents” who voted for a Reform UK representative.

McIntosh, who defected to Reform UK from the Conservatives when he was serving as a councillor in Powys, wrote: “If she has any principles or integrity, surely the right thing to do now is stand down, call a by-election, and stand to be judged by the electorate.”

Nation.Cymru put MacKinnon’s and MacIntosh’s points to Cooper-Lesadd and invited her to comment.

The Senedd Member didn’t dispute MacKinnon’s claim that she had been on the verge of being ejected from Reform UK.

She said this was because of her focus on “collaborative working” and the fact she wanted to work cross party on “furthering and strengthening rights for care leavers”.

“That is what I came in to advance, and they did not like the fact I wasn’t focusing on the party first,” the Plaid newbie said.

Cooper-Lesadd also strongly refuted claims that she had manipulated Reform’s Senedd election assessors.

She said: “The selection process was overwhelmingly focused on media skills and public speaking. That was the metric for ‘success’.

“Regarding a constituency office, the party never directly asked me about that.

“Matthew Makinnon who made these claims is never actually around and visits the Senedd twice a term.

“After I was elected, he never actually spoke to me and did not raise these concerns with me himself.

“Some Reform MS’s are opening offices which are clearly branded and obviously Reform premises.”

On her decision to take part in what MacKinnon described as an “unauthorised” media interview, Cooper-Lesadd argued that other Reform MS’s had been on podcasts such as Senedd Sources in the past.

“I would have thought would have been a normal thing to be part of,” she said.

Reform UK had selected Cooper-Lesadd as their lead candidate for Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg at the May Senedd election largely due to her powerful personal story, having spent her early childhood in the Welsh care system before being adopted. 

However, she was not the party’s first choice for the constituency, which faced significant difficulties in finding suitable candidates to stand in the May 7 election.

Former Conservative advisor Corey Edwards was originally announced as Reform’s number one candidate in Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg while Derek Roberts was selected to stand in second place.

However, Edwards was forced to bow out of the race after Nation.Cymru revealed an image of him performing a Nazi salute.

Roberts also resigned after concerns were raised by his fellow Senedd election hopefuls about the racist and offensive content he was sharing online.

The pair have since been appointed as advisers to the Reform Senedd group.

Reform’s sixth placed candidate in Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg Owain Clatworthy also quit in protest of the party’s selection process, defecting instead to Restore Britain.

Fourth place candidate Toby Rhodes-Matthews was removed from the list too, with no reason given.

Although sources told Nation.Cymru he had been targeted by party officials after he raised the alarm about the online activities of Roberts.

The list was revised ahead of Reform’s Senedd election campaign and Cooper-Lesadd was awarded the top spot, despite opponents branding her as “parachute candidate” with a lack of local ties.

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