Plaid Cymru MS brands Farage ‘vile’ for blaming staff for half-empty hall

Emily Price 

A Plaid Cymru Member of the Senedd who defected from Reform UK has branded Nigel Farage “vile” after he blamed his staff for the poor turnout at a pre-Budget speech in London.

Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg MS Sarah Cooper-Lesadd hit out at her former party leader on X, sharing a video which showed Farage addressing rows of empty seats at Lindley Hall in Westminster.

The video was captioned: “Nigel Farage blames ‘staff incompetence’ for a half empty hall at Reform UK’s event in London.”

Reposting the video on X, Cooper-Lesadd wrote: “What a vile thing to say”.

In a reply beneath the post, the Plaid Cymru MS accused Farage of refusing to admit that “no one wanted to turn up” to the Reform UK event.

Farage criticised his own team during his speech in the half-empty hall on Monday (October 26), blaming them for scheduling the event on the wrong day of the week.

He said: “As for this hall? Well, staff incompetence.

“It’s all well and good advertising the businesses, but on Mondays, people who run businesses tend to be rather busy.”

Reports suggested that guests were moved to seats behind the podium before the speech to make the hall appear fuller during live broadcasts featuring Farage and his Treasury spokesperson Robert Jenrick.

Political opponents argued the poor turnout reflects waning momentum for Reform following a series of scandals, including an ITV undercover investigation that exposed vetting failures, racism and extremist rhetoric.

Cooper-Lesadd’s criticism of Farage’s comments about his staff sparked a torrent of social media abuse with some commentators branding the Plaid MS “obsessed” and a “con woman”.

Others branded her a “c**t”, a “pig”, a”disgusting fraud” and a “traitor”.

Prolific social media troll and Tommy Robinson supporter Darren Crandon, who uses the handle “Brunte” on X, also hit out at Cooper-Lesadd.

He wrote: “This man got your £80,000 a year job so I would 🤫.

“In fact when are you standing down so the next on the Reform list can take their rightful seat?”

Crandon, who is standing for Reform in the upcoming Risca East by-election next month, has repeatedly taunted Cooper-Lesadd on social media since she announced her defection to Plaid Cymru in September, just four months after being elected as a Reform MS.

Cooper-Lesadd jumped from the right to the left of the political spectrum, after concluding that Reform had no genuine interest in governing Wales and was using its Senedd group as a stepping stone for Farage’s Westminster ambitions.

She accused Reform UK of stoking division, targeting vulnerable groups and failing to properly discipline Members who used inflammatory language about minorities.

Reform UK claimed that at the time of Cooper-Lesadd’s defection, she was already facing expulsion for failing to support the party’s beliefs and policies.

The 31-year-old’s outspoken criticism of Farage and Reform’s group in the Senedd has since made her a target of misogynistic abuse online.

Despite this, she has continued to speak out against Reform’s senior figures and challenge the party’s Senedd Members during debates.

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