Reform councillor slammed after Muslim Senedd election candidate targeted by far-right group

Emily Price 

A Reform councillor has been slammed following a campaign of abuse by a far-right group against a Muslim Labour candidate standing in next year’s Senedd election.

Mahaboob Basha was targeted by extremist group Voice of Wales over his links to a Mosque at the centre of misinformation about religious studies lessons at a Swansea school.

Last month, Nation.Cymru reported how Reform Councillor Francesca O’Brien had chaired a meeting with parents and two notorious associates of Tommy Robinson to discuss “completely untrue” allegations about religious education at Sea View Primary School in Mayhill.

The Mumbles councillor claimed that during a religious lesson taught by a representative from Sketty Mosque, pupils at Sea View were forced to pray on Muslim mats and recite prayers from the Quran.

The parents meeting had been promoted and attended by the co-founders of Voice of Wales – a designated hate group run by failed UKIP candidate Stan Robinson and convicted fraudster Dan Morgan.

Morgan was handed a suspended sentence in 2023 for his role in a large-scale scam that stole millions from pensioners who believed they were applying for compensation for mis-sold PPI.

In recent weeks, Morgan and Robinson have publicly backed O’Brien to stand for Reform in the upcoming Senedd election.

Defection

O’Brien defected to Nigel Farage’s party from the Welsh Conservatives earlier this year – leaving the employment of Tory MS Tom Giffard.

In the Senedd last week, Giffard branded Voice of Wales a “conspiracy theorist group with links to the English Defence League”.

He warned that O’Brien’s “false claims” had led to teachers and staff at Sea View being subjected to verbal threats and abuse.

Following his comments, Giffard was targeted by Voice of Wales. The group published several videos, images and posts to Facebook accusing the Tory MS of “taking an axe” to his former staffer’s back.

The hate group shared an image of the shadow counsel general driving a bus and claimed he supported “the Net Zero scam”.

Voice of Wales also posted a photo of Giffard smiling alongside Mahaboob Basha – a representative of Sketty Mosque.

The far-right group claimed that Labour and the Conservatives were working together and that Giffard and Basha were old university friends.

Abuse

It is understood that although both men attended Swansea University, they were not in the same year group and did not know each other well during their studies.

The image of the pair was taken around two years ago when Giffard and his former staffer O’Brien visited Sketty Mosque to see the new facilities following a revamp.

Basha was recently selected as Labour’s first choice on their candidates list for the Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd Senedd constituency in the 2026 Welsh election.

Posts about Basha sparked a torrent of racist online abuse from members of the Voice of Wales Facebook page with comments such as, “He’s not wanted here”,”Get them out” and “Deport not native”.

Earlier this year Basha received the prestigious British Citizen Award for services to the community at the Palace of Westminster in London for his dedication to improving the lives of BAME communities in Wales.

Welsh Labour have strongly condemned the abuse he has faced in recent days.

‘Respect’

A spokesperson for the party said: “Every person in Wales deserves respect, dignity and the freedom to take part in our democracy without facing prejudice or intimidation.

“Attacks on a candidate’s faith, background or heritage are completely unacceptable and have no place in Welsh politics.

“Dr Mahaboob Basha embodies Welsh Labour’s values of fairness, equality and community. His record of service, compassion and leadership speaks far louder than the divisive rhetoric being pushed online.

“Wales is a welcoming nation, and we stand firmly against those who try to sow fear or division.

“Welsh Labour will always stand up for a politics based on respect, inclusion and the belief that everyone, no matter who they are, has a contribution to make to our shared future.”

A source close to Mahaboob Basha said: “Such vile behaviour, once again, Voice of Wales is promoting Francesca on Twitter, attacking faith institutions and pushing a narrative that makes people feel unwelcome in their own communities.

“Politics should never come at the expense of our shared humanity. Yes, we live in a free country and can be friends with whoever we like, but dragging those friendships into political platforms, especially when they threaten community cohesion, is both reckless and dangerous.

“It’s now clear that Francesca was fully backed and promoted by them to secure the Reform seat in Swansea. But what they’ve forgotten is their own past, the very founder of Voice of Wales was exposed for scamming the elderly in our community.

“People haven’t forgotten. And now, those same scandalous figures are trying to present themselves as the voice of the community. It’s beyond shameful.”

Francesca O’Brien and Tom Giffard were invited to comment.