Plaid Cymru candidate calls for tactical voting to defeat Reform UK

Martin Shipton

A leading Plaid Cymru Senedd candidate has urged Green Party and Liberal Democrat supporters in his “super constituency” to keep down the number of Reform UK MSs elected by voting tactically.

In a blog post four months before what promises to be the most momentous Senedd election since the dawn of devolution in 1999, Mark Hooper argues that tactical voting can still play an important role despite the change in the electoral system.

Mr Hooper is a Plaid Cymru councillor in the Vale of Glamorgan and his party’s lead candidate in the new constituency of Pen-y-Bont Bro Morgannwg, which covers the two Westminster seats of Bridgend and Vale of Glamorgan.

He writes: “The Labour Party is not in the running for who leads Wales from May. Everyone knows it, including most in the Labour Party. The party is well and truly over.

“And the Tories. The right of their party has scrambled unedifyingly to Reform UK over the past year, whilst the remaining rump are struggling for relevance. Even in former strongholds like Cowbridge, they come third behind Plaid and Reform UK. Some, like the ever-angry Andrew RT Davies, desperately try to out-nasty Farage, leaving those few remaining one-nation types wondering where their party has gone. The Tories will be lucky to return enough for a five-a-side team come May – they will not matter in the post election reckoning – 14 years and more of failure at Westminster have rightfully ensured that.

“Now it gets a little more concerning. Our super constituency is a target for Reform UK – highlighted internally (by them) as “Gold+”. They want three of the six seats here – the kind of tally that would put them close to the biggest party in Wales. A party of anger and fear, funded by billionaires pretending to care about communities in Wales. We see their misinformation and lies, and we stand strongly against them. Wales, as a political entity, needs to work much better – we have credible plans to make that so, and we won’t, unlike Farage and his pals, punch down on the weakest in society to make better happen.

“The only party that will stop them getting three seats in our patch is Plaid Cymru. The last poll (Wales Governance Centre/YouGov – December 17 2025) suggested Plaid’s Sarah Rees would get that sixth seat here, but the party in seventh place would be Reform UK. Some have warned of complacency setting in at Plaid Cymru – let me assure you we are focused entirely on making sure we defeat Reform UK here in Pen- y-Bont Bro Morgannwg and play our positive part in building a better tomorrow.

“May’s election could (and should, in my view) be decided by voters under 35. No ifs or buts, if their electoral muscles were to be exercised, it would be game over for Farage and his nasty gang. In the latest polling, six times as many 18–24-year-olds support Plaid versus Reform UK and three times as many 25–34-year-olds (shame they didn’t poll 16–17-year-olds who can also vote in this election!). Labour and the Lib Dems performed even worse than Reform UK, and as for the Tories, the polling was frankly embarrassing. There is no better time than May to make sure young people’s voices are heard and their votes are counted. This is the election that matters. This is the election for young people in Wales to vote for Plaid Cymru.

“Penultimately, I have a sincere, but to the point, message for those considering voting Green or Lib Dem in this super-constituency. Simply put, your vote will not count positively – the only winners will be Reform UK. This is not the case everywhere across Wales. There are a few places which will return Senedd Members from both these parties, I’m sure, but it will not be in the Vale and Bridgend. Neither party will get to the threshold required under the proportional system being used. We could argue the merits or otherwise of this system (Plaid has consistently supported the Single Transferable Vote – STV – system), and we’d probably agree, but that will not change the system. We are beyond semantics and on the electoral battlefield – make your vote count; vote for Plaid Cymru.

“Oftentimes, parties ask supporters of the relatively weaker party to lend their votes to stop a much worse outcome. A tactical vote. Given the dangers posed by either a Reform UK Welsh Government or them winning the most seats in the Senedd but being unable to form a government (because nobody else is willing to work with them), the worst outcomes are clear. But unlike most tactical votes, potential supporters of both parties who do vote Plaid can do so positively. Whilst Plaid Cymru does have policy differences with the Greens and Lib Dems, we also have significant areas upon which we agree. We will stand on a credible and deliverable manifesto that will make Wales fairer and more prosperous. You can vote Plaid Cymru with confidence AND still stop ReformUK in their tracks. We have seen this in Caerphilly, and we can see the same here.

He continued: “Together we can ensure 2026 and beyond is hopeful, not hateful, where public services that we all rely on get properly funded, where the groundworks for a fairer, stronger economy are laid and where we have a Welsh Government that will always stand up for Wales and our interests from day one. Business as usual is not the option we are choosing, and that is why we are asking YOU to join with us and play your part in this most crucial of elections. You could join us, donate to support our activities locally or simply tell us we will be getting your vote on May 7. It will take a coalition of progressive support to win in just over four months, and in Sarah and I you will be electing two members who will not let you down.”

£5 million

Meanwhile Reform UK leader Nigel Farage Nigel Farage has pledged to spend more than £5m in the run-up to the elections in May with a mass direct mail and social media campaign.

Reform has already sent more than five million leaflets by direct mail to outer London and every household in Scotland and Wales. It will also buy up social media advertising directly targeting disaffected voters who did not go to the polls at the last election.

The Times quoted Farage saying that he wanted to spend “every single penny in the bank account” on the campaign and admitted that his own position would be at risk if he failed to make a breakthrough in the May elections.

Farage is planning to focus his campaign on the broad slogan that “Britain is broken, Britain needs Reform” in a campaign coalescing around three areas: law and order, the cost of living and migration.

Farage said: “It’s double or quits. As far as I’m concerned we are just going to go for it. If we come out of it without a single penny in the bank account and everyone is exhausted … It is the single most important event between now and the general election.

“On it depends the future of our Prime Minister, the future of the leader of the opposition and indeed my own relative strength or otherwise as leader of Reform. If we bombed, people would ask questions. My entire focus and energy is on the planning and preparation for it.”