Reform by-election victor tried to defect to Labour weeks after his election
Martin Shipton
A newly elected Reform UK councillor tried to join the council’s ruling Labour group, saying he couldn’t stand Nigel Farage and that Reform was full of people with big egos.
Owain Clatworthy made headlines across the UK when he won a by-election on May 1 to become a member of Bridgend County Borough Council. He defeated the second-placed Labour candidate by 30 votes.
His main campaign theme was the need to oust Labour from the Welsh Government in next year’s Senedd election and from power in Bridgend council in 2027.
But five weeks after his by-election victory in Pyle, Kenfig Hill and Cefn Cribwr, Cllr Clatworthy was on the phone to John Spanswick, the council’s Labour leader, asking to join his party group.
Socialist
Cllr Spanswick told Nation.Cymru: “I found it very strange. His call came out of the blue and didn’t seem to make sense. He’d spent the by-election campaign attacking Labour, and here he was trying to join the party.
“He told me he’d already tried to join the Labour Party online, but that his application was under review. He’d come to the conclusion that as a Christian and a Socialist, his values were more in line with Labour than with Reform.
“He said he was fed up with Reform, that he couldn’t stand Farage and didn’t want to share a platform with him, and that Reform was full of people with big egos. At first, before he mentioned Labour, I asked him whether he was intending to quit Reform and become an Independent, but he then said he wanted to join Labour.
“After calling me, he rang Jane Gebbie, the deputy leader, and said much the same to her. He also tried to get hold of Huw David, the former leader.
“It didn’t go anywhere, because he got persuaded by Reform to stay with them. Four days after his calls to us he was on the stage when Farage went to Port Talbot.”
In-fighting
An opposition councillor who didn’t want to be named said: “I don’t understand why he was trying to join Labour – it doesn’t make sense. Reform is the party on the up and Labour is very likely to lose control of the council in 2027.
“He does seem rather odd. I’ve also heard he’s trying to block Caroline Jones [a former UKIP Assembly Member now with Reform] from standing as a candidate in next year’s Senedd election. There seems to be a lot of in-fighting.”
We contacted Ms Jones, but she didn’t wish to comment.
When he was elected, Cllr Clatworthy became the youngest ever member of Bridgend council at the age of 20. He spoke about having spent more than 10 years of his life in the care system, and how he wanted to make a difference by representing them.
On social media he is strongly critical of Labour, and on his most recently posted video he states: “Let’s be honest. Labour have had their chance here in Bridgend – and they’ve blown it. Our roads are crumbling, town centres are dying, services are being slashed. But your council tax – well, that just keeps going up.
“It’s the same story right across Wales. Welsh Labour have been running the show for over 25 years. Our NHS is on its knees, schools are slipping behind and they waste millions on vanity projects like 20mph zones.
“People are fed up – and who can blame them? In 2026 we kick Labour out of Cardiff Bay and in 2027 we take back Bridgend council for the people,”
We called Cllr Clatworthy to ask him how he reconciled such comments with his attempt, since being elected as a Reform councillor, to join the Labour Party.
He refused to comment and referred us to Reform’s press officer.
Isolating
Later we were sent a statement from Cllr Clatworthy via Reform that said: “I did have conversations with councillors.
“At the time, I was new to the role, and being the only Reform councillor on the council felt quite isolating. But after speaking with them, it became obvious that Labour would never deliver the real change that Bridgend needs.
“Today, I am more determined than ever to fight for our community and win the next council elections with Reform UK.”
Support our Nation today
For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.
Sounds dodgy
My knee’s dodgy, this is something on another level.
Of course knees can be replaced. Whilst we’ve still got an NHS. Which we won’t have if Farage gets his way.
Knees, around $50k.
OK if you have insurance. Till you don’t. Then you die. See Insulin costs in the US and the terrible consequences of people losing homes and pets to pay for a very cheap drug.
Which also means what are cheap drugs now, farage will let the companies corner the market. Which means millions in the UK do not get treatment.
He knows what farage is then. He is happy to inflict his leader on us.
i hope his political downfall is heavy.
He sounds like a lot of young Reform supporters, extremely nieve. Reform are the only major political party on this island who have good online campaigning. In other words they have a lot of propaganda led by simple criticism of the established political parties. Young people see that and support it, not understanding that there is no substance to it and that so called Reform are worse than the established political parties because they’ll cut more and attack entire groups of people. I just feel sorry for this young man because he’s being used by Farage and his Fascist mob.
I have no sympathy for farage supporters if they know the beast. And to join that circus you have to be part way there. Reform letting unqualified and un vetted people to comb through the accounts containing sensitive info, that will have things like ethnicity, employment status etc. that will be very bad. Just look at the US at the moment, more light needs to be shone that way, they just removed 11million people from medicaid. Reform is going to pay a post to ferret out waste is 32k a year in Kent. Not going to save anything in Bridgend… Read more »
I appreciate and agree with your words ‘naive’ and ‘feeling sorry’. When I read the first article about this guy, I didn’t comment due to his background in care combined with his young age. I presumed he wanted to stand to make a difference and maybe used Reform as an easy way in but now that he has made his life difficult with his comments directed at his own crew and trying to defect, he should take advice from someone he trusts before making his next move. Mine, for what it’s worth, is that he should leave the Farij hate… Read more »
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head Owain.
naive
/nʌɪˈiːv,nɑːˈiːv/
adjective
(of a person or action) showing a lack of experience, wisdom, or judgement
…
of, or denoting art produced in a style which deliberately rejects sophisticated artistic techniques and has a bold directness, resembling a child’s work, typically in bright colours with little or no perspective.
Seriously, where do they find these clowns?
People of Bridgend, hang your heads in shame!
Oh joy, it just gets better and better.
How gullible does he think people are?
Well, gullible enough to vote Reform in the first place, I suppose.
Indicative, perhaps, of the core ‘flakiness’ of the whole Reform UK business – ‘business’ being what it essentially is, given that it remains a limited company controlled personally by Farage as majority shareholder. In the normal sense of the word it isn’t really a political party at all.
Hopefully a lot more folk than Mr Clatworthy will experience similar misgivings before they’re called upon to cast their votes next May.
Reform candidates should take up sport. Hurdling perhaps? They seem to be good at jumping, not much else. Voters are not electing a party but a coop of bigots & egos who worship at the alter of Farage, the Fishy King, wallet is wounded , guardian of the Holy Grail , who awaits in his castle for an orange knight to restore his account. Make Farage rich again, they cry in unison. Never knew they had Unions in those days? Anyway, his name? Sir Donald of Trump, known to his fellow knights as Daddy, who will ride aloft his squeaky… Read more »
What’s behind these apparent changes of heart? It seems to be a thing for Reform? No you can’t leave .. here’s a bag of cash from a friendly billionaire / have a look at this video we accidentally recorded during that free holiday at an Italian castle hosted by an oligarch and all his friendly model friends?? Just asking, that’s all.
20!
He’s still not even fully cognitively developed.
What a farce.
You can be a council leader at 18 with Reform.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c79q37rnqqro
Hey ho
https://basw.co.uk/about-social-work/psw-magazine/articles/reform-councillors-aged-19-and-22-charge-childrens-and
Nigel Farage is 61 and still not cognitively developed, while their voters still haven’t learnt not to throw a tantrum when they don’t get their own way.
There’s a definite sort that reform take in.
I believe my comment got removed when I referred to him as a dodgy chancer who just wanted a bit of spotlight and power and was using his upbringing as a cheap sob story to dupe the gullible.
No place for Reform or their voters in Wales.
The thing is, when you really come down to it, Labour are so far to the right now. He’d fit right in with regards to his political views whichever of the three parties, Labour, Reform or the Tories anyway.
I just can’t imagine what awful abuse this guy was subjected to for him to join reform at such a young age.
Cllr. Clatworthy’s parents never taught him the difference between left and right.
You obviously missed the bit in the article where it says he was brought up in care.
No principles, no particular loyalty to anyone or anything, no real understanding of the world around him, sounds like a perfect fit for Reform UK currently! It is a remarkable achievement to become a council member at such a young age, especially given his difficult start in life, but he’s utterly rudderless. We do need more young people in politics, so I hope he’ll broaden his mind, find some purpose and move far away from this diabolical ideology.