Reform UK wins Ynys Môn by-election
Reform UK has won its first-ever seat on Ynys Môn council after taking the Ynys Gybi ward in a by-election.
Reform candidate Celfyn Furlong secured victory with 603 votes, gaining the seat from Plaid Cymru with a majority of 260.
Plaid’s Bethan Jones finished second on 343 votes, followed by Labour’s Mary Roberts on 171. Voter turnout was 33.3%, with one ballot paper rejected.
The by-election was triggered by the death of long-serving councillor and former Football Association of Wales president Trefor Lloyd Hughes MBE, who died in November aged 77.
The result gives Reform UK its first representative on Isle of Anglesey County Council, where Plaid Cymru remains the largest group with 19 councillors. The council also includes 11 independents, three Labour councillors, and one each from the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK.
Ynys Gybi is also represented by Labour councillor Keith Roberts and independent councillor Dafydd Rhys Thomas.
In a statement following his win, Cllr Furlong paid tribute to his predecessor, describing Mr Lloyd Hughes as a “talisman” who had given years of service to the community and to Wales. He said he was “humbled and honoured” to be elected and pledged to work hard for local residents.
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.
Onscene result. What thef**k is wrong with the people of Ynys Mon? I’m guessing its not Welsh people that voted this obscenity of a party in
I would imagine the vote is due to incomers just being disrespectful and having their neighbours. Unfortunately it’s acceptable for Britcims to come here and destroy our country.
“ incomers just being disrespectful”
Do you have any idea how you sound?
Not entirely surprised by this result. The Caergybi/Holyhead area seems to have become Reform UK central (along with Llanelli). If those two places were typical of Cymru as a whole, then we really will be in the sh*t!!
You can’t be any more in the sh*t than having Labour running the country for Iover 20 years. The countries a mess even worse than England which is saying something!
Accurate, but Reform despise Wales and the Welsh. They want to forcibly remove whats left of our culture and make us an extension of their failed country.
Wales is a very decent anti racist country and having just one supporter in Wales is a serious threat to our communities.
It can always be worse. That’s the bitter lesson for voters who in 2016 said “it can’t be any worse” when they ticked the Leave box and now realise how wrong they were.
Despite the polls, if I was a betting man I would put money on Reform at least winning the most votes and seats in May. This is not a good result for Plaid. Once more this also shows the Green vote is not anywhere near the hype. Like it or not Rhun ap Iorwerth needs to come up with a compelling responses to things like 20mph, the M4 relief road and immigration (not say there is no such thing as illegal immigration). More than just mumbling non answers.
The latest polling puts them well ahead in the senedd election. It wasn’t highlighted on this site. Not enough for a majority, but quite ahead in terms of seats from Plaid.
Despite the opinions yesterday, their leader in wales is someone more people can relate to than Eluned and Rhun – working class background etc
KEEP THE FILTH OF RACISM OUT OF WALES
Who owns the ‘free port’ of Holyhead, have a walk round, lots to commend but in need of millions, if only one could prise it out of the Senedd’s fingers…
The actual port is privately owned which is why there’s no investment and ships keep breaking the cheap shoddy infrastructure.
Reform UK is a Limited Company masquerading as an undemocratic political party – an extreme right-wing English Nationalist party. It has a self-appointed leader, Nigel Farage, who effectively makes all the important decisions such as selecting Dan Thomas as his puppet leader in Wales. At the Reform Party rally in Newport on 5/2/2026, recent Tory defector to Reform, James Evans MS, said “Wales is broken and Wales needs Reform”. What nonsense – Wales needs Reform like a hole in the head. It is amazing that so many people in Ynys Gybi by-election were duped to vote for them.
Ynys Gybi includes Rhoscolyn rapidly morphing into a holiday and retirement village. It also boasts the residential abode of Jake Berry the former Conservative MP and northern powerhouse minister. From Lancashire, a big cheese who defected to Reform after losing his seat. Celfyn Furlong himself is a former Conservative. He already sits on the community council on the main island at Llanfihangel-yn-Nhywyn the road to RAF Valley, where he lives. This result is indictive of the cultural and demographic changes in such locations.
Damned disgusting result for.our Wales,we do not need fascists in our gov any where.