News

Reform MS celebrates her party being ‘in government’ in Wales and Scotland

08 Sep 2026 4 minute read

Gŵyr Abertawe MS Francesca O’ Brien with Reform UK Scotland politician Senga Beresford – Image: Senga Beresford X

Emily Price

A Reform UK Member of the Senedd has been mocked after publishing a social media post celebrating her party being “in government” in Wales and Scotland.

Gŵyr Abertawe MS Francesca O’Brien made the remarks after attending Reform UK’s annual national conference in Birmingham at the weekend where she snapped photos with other party members and guests.

The event was overshadowed by a financial scandal, internal resignations and aggressive disruptions, including two female hecklers being removed from the venue by security as members of the crowd grabbed at them.

Video footage shoed that one woman was pulled by her hair while an elderly man grabbed her face and struck her on the head with a walking stick.

Reform UK Scotland politician Senga Beresford published a photo to X, formerly Twitter, of herself with Ms O’Brien in a post saying it was “wonderful” to meet Wales’ newly elected Reform Senedd Members at the conference.

Ms O’Brien later shared the image to social media, captioning it: “Great to meet you Senga strong voices now in government in Scotland and Wales.”

It is unclear why Ms O’Brien believes her party is currently in power in both Wales and Scotland.

Social media users pointed out the error in the comments, but the Reform MS neither responded to the criticism nor amended her post to correct it.

One social media user on Facebook asked: “Since when are you in government?”

Another said: “Reform aren’t in government though.”

Another wrote: “Reform are in government in neither country. Are you a bit thick?”

Following the May 2026 Scottish Parliament election, the Scottish National Party remained the largest party and formed the Scottish Government, led by First Minister John Swinney.

Reform UK secured 17 seats at Holyrood, placing the party in a joint-second place tie with Scottish Labour as the largest opposition groups by seat count.

In Wales, Ms O’Brien’s party found itself in a similar position, with Reform UK emerging as the second-largest party in the Senedd behind governing Plaid Cymru following the May election.

Ms O’Brien’s claim that her party is in government in Wales came after she was mocked over another conference social media post in which she described GB News as a “fresh of breath air”.

The Gŵyr Abertawe MS wrote: “Great to join the GB News reception last night and catch up with Nana Akua GB News.

“For many years, mainstream media have been selective with their material.

“GB news is a fresh of breath air.”

One social media commentator on Facebook asked: “A fresh of what???? Champagne at the reception was there?”

Another user on X said: “Did you copy and paste this for all your platforms? Is that why it’s wrong multiple times?

“Or do you honestly think that’s the right phrase? Nah, that’s not possible.”

Ms O’Brien defected to Nigel Farage’s party in August 2025 after leaving her job as a Welsh Conservative staffer.

The former Mumbles councillor had stood as a prospective Conservative MP for Gower in the 2019 general election.

However, her campaign was significantly overshadowed when she was forced to apologise for a Facebook post in which she said people on benefits needed “putting down”.

She was defeated by the incumbent Labour MP, Tonia Antoniazzi.

Following her defection to Reform UK last year, Ms O’Brien was successfully elected as a Member of the Senedd for the new Gŵyr Abertawe super constituency.

Following her win, she was also appointed the Reform Senedd group’s shadow minister for local government, housing and planning.

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