Plaid Cymru inflicts another by-election defeat on Reform UK

Martin Shipton

Plaid Cymru retained a seat on Caerphilly council following a decisive by-election victory over Reform UK, with Labour a distant third.

Anthony Cook won the vacant seat in the Hengoed ward with 509 votes (49.9%), followed by Reform’s Kimberley Heath with 371 (36.4%), Dan Kelly (Labour) with 103 (10.1), David Emmins (Conservative) with 21 (2.1%) and David Scullin (Liberal Democrat) with 16 (1.6%)

The by-election was caused by the election of Plaid Cymru’s Donna Cushing to the Senedd in May.

Councillor Charlotte Bishop, leader of the opposition Plaid Cymru group on Caerphilly council, said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to congratulate Anthony Cook on his election win.

“This is the fifth time voters in the county borough have rejected Reform following the Caerphilly Senedd by-election, the Penyrheol and Van by-elections and the Senedd vote in Blaenau Gwent, Caerffili, Rhymney.

“This victory in Caerphilly demonstrates that more and more people are putting their trust in Plaid Cymru’s positive vision for our communities. At the same time, parties that seek to divide people through fear, resentment and misinformation are losing ground as residents choose hope, hard work and local leadership instead.

“Anthony will be a tremendous asset to our team. He understands the difference between local government and Westminster, and he knows that delivering for residents’ means working in partnership with colleagues, the community and local organisations to achieve real results.

“He is well known, well respected and incredibly hardworking. Throughout his campaign he demonstrated a genuine commitment to listening to local people and standing up for the communities of Cefn Hengoed and Hengoed.

“I couldn’t think of anyone better to fight for the people of Cefn Hengoed and Hengoed, and I look forward to working alongside him as we continue to build stronger communities across Caerphilly county.”

The newly elected councillor attended Derwendeg Primary School. Cefn Hengoed and Lewis School, Pengam, before enlisting in the Army where he served in the Royal Engineers before transferring to the Royal Welsh Regiment.

During his nearly eight years of service, he completed a tour in Afghanistan and deployed to Canada and Poland, where he was stationed around the time of the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea.

After leaving the Army in 2016, he worked in a range of jobs, including HGV driving, machinery movements, and delivering building supplies. Determined to advance his career, he attended night school while studying to earn a distinction in Construction and the Built Environment and has spent the last four years working as a surveyor and analyst.

Cllr Cook’s success in the council by-election contrasts with his lowly performance in last October’s Caerphilly Senedd by-election, when he was a candidate for the small Welsh nationalist party Gwlad. On that occasion he came seventh out of eight candidates, winning just 117 votes – 0.3% of those cast.

At the last council election in Hengoed in 2022, both seats in the two-seat ward were won by Plaid Cymru in a straight fight with Labour.

Donna Cushing, now an MS, topped the poll with 608 votes and her Plaid running mate Teresa Parry was second with 576. Labour’s unsuccessful candidates got 502 and 494 votes.

Podcast

Earlier this week Reform’s defeated by-election candidate Kimberley Heath appeared on a podcast hosted by a controversial evangelical Christian who has been criticised for conducting sympathetic interviews with far-right figures.

Kimberley Heath was interviewed by Faith Jarvis on the Faith Speaks Louder podcast at the end of July.

During the interview, the pair discussed Ms Heath’s decision to stand for Reform, with Ms Jarvis describing the party as a “hot potato”.

Ms Heath, a supply teacher, told Ms Jarvis that Nigel Farage’s party had given her an opportunity that other political parties would not have offered someone with no previous political experience.

However, she appeared to distance herself from recent controversies surrounding Reform UK, saying she was “well aware” that not everyone agreed with some of the party’s policies but that she wanted to be a “positive female role model”.

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