Reform Senedd leader offers property advice to First Minister after portfolio revealed

Emily Price

Reform’s leader in the Senedd has offered to advice the Welsh Government on how to “sweat property assets” and get the “best value for money” after Nation.Cymru revealed details of his property portfolio.

Dan Thomas made the remarks during First Minister’s Questions on Tuesday (July 7), after he asked Rhun ap Iorwerth whether he had been able to secure a meeting with the man widely expected to become the next Prime Minister, Andy Burnham.

Reform’s Welsh leader claimed that the UK Government hadn’t yet met with Plaid’s leader because the administration “doesn’t trust Plaid Cymru with extra funding”.

Mr ap Iorwerth responded saying it was “nice to get lessons in spending money wisely from the man who spent so wisely so as to build a property portfolio spanning at least five houses and four acres in three countries.”

Nation.Cymru revealed this morning how Mr Thomas had declared that he and his wife jointly owned four rental properties in England and a holiday home in Sardinia.

The details had been published the day before by the Senedd via Mr Thomas’s entry in the Register of Members’ Interests.

It showed that he and his wife own two residential rented properties in London, another in Oxfordshire and a fourth in Somerset.

Each property is, under the terms of the Register, said to be worth more than £76,380 and provide annual rental income of £7,638.

Mr Thomas also declared that he owns a family home and four acres of land in Sardinia with the property “occasionally rented out”.

Like all Members of the Senedd, Mr Thomas does not have to declare details of his family home.

‘Value’

Laughing off the First Minister’s comments, Reform’s leader in the Senedd said he would be “quite happy” to give the Welsh Government some pointers on “how to sweat property assets” and secure the “best value for money”.

“I’m very happy to help you with that,” he said, before adding that Mr ap Iorwerth was not “commanding the respect that Wales needs in a First Minister”.

The exchange came just before Reform’s UK leader Nigel Farage was set to take part in a live broadcast relating to mounting pressure over unregistered donations of cash and support.

Moments before the announcement, Mr Thomas was seen on Senedd cameras shaking his head and mouthing “no” when the First Minister suggested Farage could be about to step down as leader.

Just after 2pm, Farage announced he would quit as an MP for Clacton, accusing the media of harassment and vowing to fight a “people versus the establishment” by-election.

‘Masterstroke’

Reform’s Chief of Staff in the Senedd David Thomas published a post to X, formerly Twitter, saying the by-election would give the people of Clacton “the chance to take on the rotten establishment and take back our country”.

“This is a political masterstroke,” he added.

In a post published to Facebook on Monday, Reform’s chief whip in the Senedd, Llyr Powell, said: “They will say or do ANYTHING to take down NIGEL FARAGE and stop REFORM. The establishment is terrified.

“The tide is turning, and no amount of dirty tricks will stop it. Britain needs Reform.”

Farage has faced calls for an investigation following reports that long-term ally George Cottrell had provided undeclared funding for security and staffing in the year before he was elected.

Mr Cottrell reportedly recruited and paid three staff to work on Mr Farage’s social media before the general election, and has continued to allow him to use a five-storey Georgian property he rented near Buckingham Palace.

Under the House of Commons’ rules, new MPs are required to register any gifts worth more than £300 they received in the previous 12 months, except where the gift “could not be reasonably thought by others” to relate to their political activities.

Mr Farage is already facing a parliamentary standards investigation over a £5 million gift from Reform donor Christopher Harborne before becoming an MP.

‘Laughable’

Speaking in response to Farage’s resignation as MP, and his intention to stand again in a by-election, Plaid Cymru Westminster Leader, Liz Saville Roberts branded him “laughable”.

She said: “This was a self-pitying monologue from a man who has done more than anyone to stoke division, turn communities against each other and embolden the anonymous trolls who launch vile attacks on social media against elected representatives, especially women.

“Nigel Farage calling this a ‘people v the establishment’ election is laughable when he is a walking, talking embodiment of the wealthy and privileged establishment figure. For decades, he has exerted great influence over British politics while misrepresenting himself as an outsider. This is a man who is funded by billionaires and acts as a mouthpiece for their interests.

“By calling for a by-election, Reform UK’s leader is only pandering to his own ego, and squandering taxpayers’ money in the process.

“Peel away the rhetoric, and today’s attention-seeking exercise is little more than a last-ditch attempt at gaming the system in order to scuttle away from the cold light of impartial scrutiny. This seems to be an act of jumping before being pushed.”