Reform MS defects to Plaid Cymru in attack on party’s approach to Wales

Nation.Cymru staff

A Reform UK Member of the Senedd has defected to Plaid Cymru, accusing her former party of having “no interest” in governing Wales and being more concerned with “division, opposition and headlines”.

Sarah Cooper-Lesadd, who represents Pen-y-Bont Bro Morgannwg, announced on Tuesday that she had left Reform and joined Plaid Cymru and its Senedd group.

Her move takes Plaid’s representation in the 96-member Senedd to 44 MSs.

Ms Cooper-Lesadd, who grew up in the care system, said she had entered politics to represent care-experienced people and others she believed were being overlooked.

She said: “Reform has no interest in the work I came here to do. They are not serious about governing Wales. They are far more interested in division, opposition and headlines than in finding solutions.

“There is a real appetite in the group to want the government to fail, and no interest in what that failure would mean for the people we represent.”

Ms Cooper-Lesadd said she had wanted to vote for the Welsh Government’s supplementary budget and had opposed Reform’s decision to table a debate on Wales being a Nation of Sanctuary.

She said: “I cannot support Reform’s attacks on people seeking sanctuary or other vulnerable groups. I particularly reject the way minorities have too often been used as political targets.

“I do not believe anyone should be scapegoated or dehumanised to win votes, and I will not be part of a politics that does that.”

She also accused Reform’s UK leadership of having little interest in Wales.

“The party centrally has no interest in Wales. Their Senedd group is a staging post in the effort to get Nigel Farage into Downing Street, and that was glaringly obvious at its conference this week,” she said.

Addressing those who voted Reform in May, Ms Cooper-Lesadd said: “I have not stopped listening to you. You told me you felt ignored and let down. Those concerns are real, and they will be answered by delivery, not division.”

Devolution

She said she now believed devolution offered Wales the opportunity to make decisions closer to the people affected by them.

“I believe in a Wales that is confident, compassionate and ambitious. A Wales that uses the powers it has to improve people’s lives and seeks the powers it still needs,” she said.

“Plaid is serious about governing, serious about delivery and serious about Wales.

“I know what I am asking of Plaid members who spent May campaigning against the party I stood for, and I will work to earn their trust.”

Plaid Cymru’s Senedd group chair Marc Jones said the party’s group and National Executive had agreed to accept Ms Cooper-Lesadd following an internal process.

He said: “A decision to allow a member to cross the floor, particularly from Reform UK, is not taken lightly.

“It has been clear for some time to many of us that Sarah is sincerely motivated by a desire to make a positive difference, particularly for some of the most vulnerable people in our society.

“She has been honest about her political journey and has acknowledged that she was wrong to believe Reform was the right political home for her.”

‘Persuaded’

Mr Jones acknowledged that Plaid members had fought May’s election on a platform opposed to Reform, but said growing the party meant persuading people from different political backgrounds.

He said: “May also showed that people from many different backgrounds and political starting points can be persuaded by our vision for Wales.

“Building our movement means reaching out, having conversations and persuading people and allowing people to change their minds.

“We are therefore pleased to welcome Sarah to Plaid Cymru and look forward to the contribution she can make to our party, our Senedd Group and, most importantly, to the people of Wales.”

---

Get more trusted Welsh news

Choose Nation.Cymru as a preferred source in Google News to see more of our journalism.